Gaunt, Stefani take titles at High Stakes Showdown

Lake Charles, LA – The All Pro Tour capped its 2025 season in Lake Charles, Louisiana, at the inaugural High Stakes Showdown, presented by L’Auberge Casino Resort and the Lake Charles Sports Authority.

Hosted at Contraband Bayou Golf Club, the new event drew more than 100 players and introduced a unique format: a traditional 54-hole stroke play followed by a 9-hole, single-elimination “high-stakes” finale.

The opening round delivered fireworks early as Connor Gaunt, Tanner Gore, Brett White, Garrison Smith, Jaxon Dowell, and Clayton King all fired 6-under 65s to set the pace for the week.

But after round two, LSU alum Phillip Barbree Jr. of Shreveport surged to the top with a fiery 8-under 63, joining Gaunt and Pryce Beshoory in the final pairing.

Holding a one-shot lead entering the final round, Barbree was in reach for his first professional win. He birdied the opening hole and added two more circles on Nos. 6 and 7 to post a bogey-free 32 on the front nine.

The back nine, however, told a different story. A lone bogey on No. 14 dropped him to a 1-over 37 —opening the door for Gaunt.

Gaunt, also an LSU product, delivered a bogey-free 4-under 32 on the back nine to claim the High Stakes Showdown stroke-play title by one shot.

“I took off to a slow start and made a bunch of pars early,” Gaunt said. “Phillip was playing well on the front nine, and I finally made my first birdie on six. I missed a few short ones after that, but once I locked in, I made some putts. I’m still in shock—this is my first professional win. It gives me a lot of confidence, and all I can say is God is good.”

But the week’s drama didn’t end there. With $50,000 still up for grabs, the top ten stroke-play finishers advanced to the High Stakes Showdown, a pressure-packed elimination challenge played on No. 18—nine times—each with a different par and a player knocked out each hole. 

Shawn Stefani, a former PGA Tour member who finished T9 in stroke play, showed his resilience as he advanced to the final hole alongside Barbree. There, Stefani delivered the moment of the showdown—a clutch 40-foot birdie putt to seal the High Stakes Showdown championship.

“I started the week wanting to play as well as I could,” Stefani said. “I’ve really been fighting nerves and anxiety after being out for a couple of years. I just want my job back—I want to play again. When I made it to the Showdown, I told myself to have fun, and truthfully, once I got there, I really enjoyed it.”