The Cotton States Story
By Keith Prince
Nothing captures the spirit of Bayou DeSiard Country Club more than its prestigious annual
W. E. Cole Cotton States Invitational Golf Tournament.
Originally played in 1949 as the Bayou DeSiard Labour Day Golf Tournament, the festive affair was renamed The
Cotton States Invitational in 1951 by the club's young head professional, W. E. "Winnie" Cole . Little did Cole
know that 27 years later, in 1978, the event would be retitled again, forever to be known as the W. E. Cole Cotton
States Invitational Golf Tournament.
On its 50th anniversary, speaking about the 1951 name change he made, Cole said, "We needed a name that
would make the tournament special and give it stature. I felt The Cotton States would be appropriate because
those are the states from which we have always drawn the majority of our tournament players."
Winnie Cole was right on target, and from the outset The Cotton States became one of the most popular late
summer tournaments in the South. In fact, it originally preceded the U. S. Amateur Championship by one week
and made the perfect tune-up tournament for some of golf's greatest young players.
In the very first Cotton States (1951),Don January, then playing for North Texas State and later a highly
successful participant on both the PGA and Senior Tours, came to Monroe and left with the championship. He
was the first of many tremendous golfers to win The Cotton States.
Eventually, because colleges began starting their fall semesters earlier, The Cotton States moved away from Labor Day and
was played on earlier dates. It continues to draw a high-quality field, featuring some of the region's top veteran amateurs as
well as college golfers from many states.
Except for 1970 and 1971, the tournament has used a match play format which has brought about countless dramatic
moments and last-minute victories. Among past Cotton States champions -- most of whom were in college at the time, later
achieving national prominence -- are Hal Sutton (1976), Homero Blancos (1962-63-64), Jackie Cupit (1960), Hal
Underwood (1966), Rik Massengale (1967), Stan Lee (1973-74), Mike Heinen (1987) and Perry Moss (1989). Gil Morgan
also played here and was runner-up to Robert Shelton of Monroe in 1970. Other notables who played here include former
British Open champion Bill Rogers (1972), former PGA champions John Mahaffey (1968) and David Toms (1986), and
1998 British Open runner-up Brian Watts (1984).
Gene Dahlbender, of Atlanta, Ga., joins Blancos as the only three-time winner of The Cotton States, taking the title in 1955-
56 and 1961.
Local winners have included Jack Rivers (1959),Clayton Cole (1965), Wayne Peddy (1968), Terry Peddy (1979), Doug
Farr (1991), Bob Cooper (1999), ULM golfers Drew Proctor (1993) and Brian Frazier (1997), Paul Jones, Jr. (1980) of
Bastrop and Tom Bryant (1981) of Lake Providence.
Historical photographs provided by Henry Cole
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copyright 2001 - 2021 W. E Cole Cotton States Invitational & cottonstates.org all rights reserved
Tournament Chairman: Stewart Causey
Tournament Co-Chairman: Nick Ellison
Golf Pro: Nick Ellison
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