Photo Courtesy of LSU Athletics.
Chuck Winstead, who guided the LSU men's golf team to the 2015 NCAA Men's Golf Championship, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Collegiate Coach of the Year for Louisiana for 2014-15. The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Amateur Athletes of the Month and each year’s Hall of Fame class.
Winstead, the SEC Coach of the Year, directed LSU to its first golf title since 1955. The Tigers captured four team titles during the year, including their first SEC Championship in 28 years. In the NCAA Regional tournament in New Haven, Conn., the Tigers erased an 11-shot deficit to climb to fifth place on the final day – a spot which proved to be enough to lift them to the NCAA Championship tournament. LSU defeated USC, 4-1, in match play action to win the national title. Winstead was also named the National Coach of the Year by Golfweek.
“I’m just so proud of these guys,” said Winstead after winning the title. “It’s hard to get into a position to even have a chance to win this tournament, and then when you show up out here today and you still have the resolve to play the way we did, I’m very proud of the guys on this team. Having graduated from LSU and being a Tiger, it’s very special.”
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 102 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 89-year history. The 90th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2024. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting nearly $2.4 billion into the local economy in the last decade.
-AllstateSugarBowl.org-
