Friendly confines

Tournament chairman Scott Chesbro said the Lawrence Futures Classic succeeded where so many before had failed.

“The tour officials told me about two hours ago that this is the first tournament they’ve had where players haven’t had one single complaint,” Chesbro said. “They’ve had a great experience.”

Golfer Meredith Duncan said the Lawrence event was different from most others simply because participants were given food; at other events, they have been left to fend for themselves.

“Usually we’re eating peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches,” Duncan said. “You think, ‘Do you want to spend $25 at Outback Steakhouse, or do you want to spend $4 at Taco Bell.'”

Chesbro said in researching how to put a tour stop together, he found food was a major need for players and one that was not difficult or expensive to provide.

“We worked hard to be sure from a players’ perspective that we met their expectations,” Chesbro said. “Some of the things that are different aren’t all that expensive to fix, and food was one of them. We could provide them with a place to be alone and have some food and a place to eat.”

Wild is the wind

The common thread among all three rounds of the tournament was nearly constant blowing winds at Eagle Bend.

It affected some players more than others.

Lori Atsedes lines up a putt on the 18th green during the Lawrence Futures Classic. Atsedes won the tournament Sunday at Eagle Bend Golf Course.

Duncan said the Lawrence tournament was the windiest one so far.

But tournament winner Lori Atsedes disagreed. She said last week’s ISO Futures Classic in El Paso, Texas, had winds that gusted up to 63 miles per hour, making it the most miserable golfing conditions she had faced in her 18 years of professional golf.

Nevertheless, Sunday’s rain delay was welcome relief for Atsedes, who was tired of her second windy tournament in a row.

“The wind was tough, so coming off the course was nice because it was a break from the wind,” Atsedes said.

Players differed on whether the wind was that much of a detriment.

Duncan said the wind forced her to hit low tee shots, but even that was problematic on some holes.

“You have to try to hit it as low as you can,” Duncan said. “But on 18, you can’t hit it low because you got bunkers, but you can’t really afford to get it in the wind because you don’t really know what the wind will do to it, so it’s a little bit of a guessing game.”

Nicole Castrale said the wind didn’t make her play any differently, especially because there was nothing she could do about it.

“You had to stay a little more patient,” Castrale said. “The wind just kind of plays havoc on the greens, getting the ball to sit.”

Green thumb

The Eagle Bend course stayed in good shape throughout the three-round tournament.

John Morris, assistant golf pro, said he took a tour of the course and found no flaws with it after three days of action.

“I thought it was looking pretty good,” Morris said. “I didn’t see any wet spots, so I didn’t think we got all that much rain. I’ve still been seeing the balls roll down the fairways.”

He also said the tournament didn’t bring much more foot traffic than a usual weekend at Eagle Bend this year. With Alvamar reconstructing parts of its course, business at Eagle Bend has gone up this year.

Players indicated that they saw no problems with the course, even during the last day.

“It was in good condition. The bunkers had a little too much sand, but other than that it was in good condition,” Castrale said.

Moving on up

With her tournament victory, Atsedes moved into a three-way tie for fourth all-time in Futures Tour championships with six. Suzy Green is the all-time leader with 11. … Atsedes also moved into fourth all-time among career earnings leaders, adding $9,800 to her previous total of $121,131. … Atsedes had a slight advantage over her competition because she plays Eagle Bend somewhat regularly. She said she was long-time friends with Jerry Samp, a tournament organizer, and came to visit at least a couple of times every year and would get in a round at Eagle Bend.