East's game trending north, carries momentum, new putter into City Championship
Southeastern Louisiana University sophomore Landen East lost at the Louisiana Amateur Championship earlier this month in a sudden death playoff and will go for his first Lake Charles City Championship this weekend. (Southeastern Louisiana University/Special to the American Press)
Like baseball and the home run, golf has become more about the booming drive off the tee box in recent years. But to Southeastern Louisiana University sophomore golfer Landen East, success only comes when you can put the ball in the hole.
'You can't shoot low scores if you are not getting it in the hole,' East said.
That philosophy has guided his search the last couple of years to find the right putter with the right feel that allowed him to strike the ball with pinpoint accuracy.
A couple of months ago, the former Sulphur High School standout picked up a new Ping PLD Milled Anser 30 blade putter and almost won the 106th Louisiana Amateur Championship and almost made the cut at the U.S. Amateur qualifying tournament in the last few weeks.
'I have been putting great,' East said. 'I have probably been putting the best in my life here recently.
'Obviously I am hitting the ball well. Ever since I switched to (the new putter), I have loved it. I don't see myself putting with anything else.'
And he looks to carry that success into the Lake Charles City Championship today at Mallard Golf Club. The first group in the championship flight will tee off at 1 p.m.
He previously used a Scotty Cameron Platinum Pro for a few months and a Ping mallet putter for two or three years before that. He averaged 75 a round in his sophomore season at SLU.
'I felt like my speed was off,' East said. 'I would get one that I felt that I hit good, and it would roll 6 or 7 feet past the hole.
'I grew up playing a blade and decided to make the switch back, and then I finally found the one that I really like in the new Ping. I switched to it because it is a little bit more face-balanced than the previous blade I had. It helps me keep the face a little more stable. It sets up well, and my speed control is better. That other club was a lighter head, but this heavier head is better for me.'
At the state amateur tournament played June 5-8 at Bayou Oaks at City Park in New Orleans, East shot in the 60s in three of four rounds before losing to Shreveport's Connor Cassano, who plays at LSU by way of Loyola Prep, on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
A key point in the final round allowed East to catch up to Cassano. After a bogey on the 13th hole, East knocked
in a 35-foot putt for a birdie on the long par-3 No. 14 and played the final five holes at 3 under to force the playoff. He was 19 under for the tournament.
At the U.S. Amateur qualifier, East shot a 69, missing the qualifying cut by one stroke. In his last five rounds, East has three-putted twice.
East said there is little room for error at Mallard, especially on the greens.
'At Mallard, you can get away with a couple of errant tee shots, and you can get away with a couple of bad shots,' East said. 'But I feel the player that is going to win is going to limit their mistakes and going to try not to three-putt and make doubles.
'I feel like holing putts for par, making a few more birdies here and there, attributes a lot to being able to win
the tournament.'
He won the Sulphur City Championship last year and Westlake in 2022 and looks to win his first Lake Charles City Championship and join an elite group — Neithan Allen, Hank Shaheen, Matt Nicholas — who have won all three.
'It would be pretty cool to be a member of that club,' East said.
East will be up against multiple past champions, including Nicholas, Blake DeReese, Gage Primeaux, Jacob Lejeune and Billy
Gabbert.
'There are a lot of good players,' East said. 'I feel like I have a great chance, and I have proved that to myself.'
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