Annual LBA 40 tees off today

PALM VALLEY — Last year Richard Hageman arrived at Harlingen Country Club unsure of what to expect.

The San Antonio golfer competed in his first ever Life Begins at 40 golf tournament and had never played at course at HCC.

Things turned out great for Hageman as he cruised into the final and then beat three-time champion Rich-ard LaPierre in the finals, 3 and 2, to win his first LBA 40 championship.

Not bad for a first-timer.

His second go around shouldn’t be as tense. At least not the first day.

The 56th LBA 40 gets under way today with the stroke-play qualifier set to tee off at 8 a.m.

And as the defending champ, Hageman gets an automatic berth in the 16-man championship flight that begins match play competition on Tuesday.

The other low 15 scores advance to the champ-ionship flight. The low 64 handicaps compete in the stroke-play competition today.

Among the other notable golfers competing today are McAllen’s Ron Kilby and New Braunfels’ Richard LaPierre.

The two golfers own eight championships between them from 1997 to 2007.

Kilby’s won a record five titles (1997, 1999-2001 and 2004) including three in a row at one time.

LaPierre won his first championship in 2002 and then won two straight from 2005-06. LaPierre was playing for his third consecutive last year before losing to Hageman in the finals.

A three-peat has only been accomplished three other times.

Only Kilby (1999-2001), Curtis Person (1966-68) and Maurice Wilson (1969-71) have three-peated as LBA champions.

Through last year, LaPierre has reached the finals six of the last eight tournaments.

LBA 40 pairings

Monday’s matches

8 a.m. start

Tee 1A: Richard Hageman, Ron Kilby, Hank Murray, L.D. Clopton

1B: Richard LaPierre, Alan Dale, Chris Wicker, Robert DuCharme

2A: Mark Achziger, Gene Roe, Dan Nelson, Ray Iler

2B: Les Webster, Rusty Napier, John Westfall, Gil Markham

3A: Lee Wiley, Don Nowakowski, Tim Peded, Tom Johnson

3B: Richard Wilson, Bob Ermey, Don Lindahl, Rick Hare

4A: Reagan Florence, John Booth, Randy Buie, Barry Waters

5A: R.C. Benson, Mark Jones, Ronald Cearley, Bill McLeod

5B: Bennie Deleon, Mike Slay, Fred Kurth, Charles Schley

6A: Rondey Teague, Michael Valadez, David Martin, Al Jones Jr.

6B: Jim Ketter, Robert Page, J.C. Staples, Larry Pullin

7A: Joe Jones, Ronnie Flowers, Wayne Freiling, Jim Murphy

8A: Jim LeBus, Charlie Thornton, Yildirim Duark, John Lackey

8B: Victor Villarreal, Ed Whinery, Joe Neely, Phil MacLaird

9A: Steve Thompson, Charles Milstead, Al Millon, Denny Wood

9B: James Nolen, Bob Velazquez, Cecil Robinson, Neil Wadhwani

10A: Tom Nesmith, Sherman Smith, Kenny Haynes, Dean Hall

10B: Justin Curren, Ron Blanton, David Richards, Bruce Fernie

11A: Jerry Gray, Tom Kolterman, Tommy Rome, Tom Adcock

11B: R.D. Imel, Dick Hearne, Jim Leonard, Donald Landry

12A: David Moore, Jim Rowe, Lee Dale, Dale Shaffer

13A: John Hopskins, Art Bond, Don Franklin, Jim Hearn

13B: Kevin Lovell, Joe Elliff, Jerry Rudnavaara, Dick Benson

14A: Craig McCurdy, Ray Daugbjerg, Gil Ortiz, Tim Nesbitt

14B: Bob Hansen, Charles Ripley, Ron Terry, Ralph Turner

15A: Richard Kirkland, Joe McNabb, Thom Cox, Phillip Lee

16A: Con Hendren, John Johnson, Buster Brown, Tom Diedrich

16B: Ed Knetig, Bob Blackburn, Martin Leinneweber, Charles Cornwell

17A: Durrell Lovell, Larry Larsen, Hopper Johnson, George Richards

17B: Roland Dreshsel, Robert Mettlen, Karl Milstead, Hubert Kelley

18A: Les Rudesal, Ford Sasser, Charles Durivage, Dick Schimaitis

18B: Ed Paris, Leonard Bierman, Jimmy Davis, Wayne Beneke

1:15 p.m. start

Tee 1A: Walt Hammons, Dale Morris, Max Blackburn, Rod Kahn

1B: Kelly Westlake, Willard Addington, Jerry Davis, Michael Sandeen

2A: Ed Gonzales, Ken Jackson, David Vandervoort, Jon Kuehner

2B: Don Achziger, Bryan Cook, Dan Casey, Frank Markham

3A: Craig Peterson, Seth Moore, Eric Cornell, Charles Booth

3B: Bob Meador, Jim Alexander, Robert Corliss, Pat White

4A: Max Lieberenz, Dennie Lovell, Allan Colwick, Bill Werley

5A: Jim Holladay, Laurie Lengyel, Jim Greene, Bob McMinn

5B: Curtiss Conrad, Tom Lawhon, Jack Phillips, Warren Studdard

6A: Ned Cooley, Anthony Weigel, Bill Scoggins, Marvin Sondock

6B: Bill Uhls, Bob Berg, David Ladwig, Butch Newton

7A: Doug Thompson, Gary Tischer, Drew Beams, Tom Schmidt

8A: Robert Hunt, Bill Manning, Jim Carroll, Gerald Greedman

8B: Steve Trapp, Robert Mansell, Chuck Harris, John Cutney

9A: Don Plaugher, Stephen Ellis, Jack Wilkinson, R. Von Smith

9B: Jim Mumford, Steve Gowan, R. Dale Johnson, Mike Seidelhuber

10A: Sam Crawford, Tito Guerrero, Steve Womack, Garnett Causey

10B: Victor Prosper, David Newell, James Stavenhagen, Charles Burd

11A: Jack Reese, Jerry Schussler, Lee Roy Hahnfeld, Buck Turn

11B: Bill Kelly, Bob Stahl, Larry Wade, Tony Alford

12A: Selden Robinson, Fred Allgood, Clyde Ford, Don Rigge

13A: Tom Gibson, John Ftacek, Gale Sintek, Ray Klein

13B: Tommy Carruth, Mike Beaton, Gary Jones, Buddy Smith

14A: Bill Fontenot, Dick Faxon, Boyd Spurlock, David Smith

14B: Dean Lindquist, bye, Lary Milrany, Stove Patersen

15A: William Kelly, John Ferris, Harold Ensey, Mel Kemp

16A: Jim Brooks, Gus Hurt, J. Thomas Pearlman, Lee Richards

16B: Tom Locke, Gene LaMere, Howard Johnson, Bill Moffett

17A: Joe Bray, bye, Boyce Freitag, John Snodgrass

17B: John Hays, Dave King, David Burdick, Russell Puckett

18A: Ken Dusek, John Snodgrass Jr., John Roberts, Raymond Hooks

18B: Jim Gaffney, Sal Grenillo, Steve Hollon, Greg Pipes