Coming off a Class 1 state runner-up finish and winning a second-straight district championship in 2024, the St. Vincent golf team is showing no signs of slowing down despite graduating a few key golfers.
The Indians graduated a total of three players, which included the 2024 individual Class 1 state champion Payton Strattman as well as fellow 2024 graduates Garrett Brickhaus and Logan Hornberger.
Regardless of that and having been moved up to Class 2 because of MSHSAA’s championship factor for private schools, St. Vincent is hoping for another historic postseason run this season.
This shouldn't come to a surprise as the Indians golf program is one with a rich history, having claimed two state titles (1998 and 2001) and nine top-four finishes outside of that.
Helping carry on that tradition of success has been junior Sam Koishor, who recorded a top-20 finish in last year’s Class 1 State Tournament. He also placed in the top 40 at state as a freshman when St. Vincent took sixth.
Looking at his first season as an upperclassman this spring, Koishor has certainly not disappointed, winning three of St. Vincent’s last four competitions.
The only contest Koishor didn’t win outright was when he took third place out of 120 total golfers in the Crown Pointe Tournament held at Farmington last week on Tuesday, April 8.
Koishor’s third-place finish with an individual score of 79 led the Indians to take seventh place overall in a 22-team field. While Koishor was St. Vincent’s lone top-10 finisher, freshman Brecken Reiss shot the second-best score for the Indians with an 89 to end up in 22nd place.
The two other top-four scorers for St. Vincent in the Crown Pointe Tournament were seniors Boston Tarrillion and Collin Wheeler, who placed 47th (96) and 59th (99), respectively.
Most recently, the Indians won a tri match over Class 4 Windsor and Class 3 Herculaneum at Joachim Golf Course last Friday. St. Vincent produced a team score of 159 to Windsor’s 179 and host Herculaneum’s 225.
The Indians finished with four of the top-five scores as Koishor won the meet by shooting a 35. Sophomore Quinton Doza finished four strokes behind Koishor with a 39.
The other returning varsity golfer from St. Vincent’s Class 1 second-place team sophomore Adam Brickhaus took fourth place in the tri match, posting a score of 42. Fellow sophomore Colden Prost finished fifth overall, nearly tying Brickhaus with a 43.
Brickhaus was also instrumental in the Indians topping their rival Perryville on Wednesday, April 9, at the Perryville Country Club. St. Vincent won the match by 10 points with a final team score of 167 to the Pirates 177.
As for Brickhaus, he placed second versus Perryville with a 40 behind Koishor’s first-place score of 39. Reiss finished fourth overall at 42, while Wheeler came in at sixth place by shooting a 46.
Brickhaus showed out as well in the Indians first match of the season, taking first place with a score of 40 in a win over Valle Catholic on March 21. Koishor paced Brickhaus in second place (42) as Prost also ended up in the top five at fifth overall (45).
Other notable performances for St. Vincent as a team has included beating Perryville and Ste. Genevieve in a tri match March 26 as well as placing second out of nine teams in the Windsor Scramble Tournament on March 31.
At Windsor, the scramble tandem of Brickhaus and Prost placed seventh overall with a combined score of 77. The upperclassmen duo of Koishor and Tarrillion finished two strokes behind them at 79 for eighth place.
In their first match against Perryville and also against the Dragons, Koishor and Prost tied for third place as they each shot a 43. Brickhaus was right behind them in fifth place at 44, while Doza took sixth (45).
The Indians also tied with Class 4 Festus in a road tri match with the Tigers and Jefferson on April 1. Individually, Koishor took home first place with a score of 40, while Doza finished fifth (45), Prost ninth (48) and Brickhaus 12th (49).
Looking ahead, St. Vincent has three matches until the JCAA Conference Tournament in three weeks on May 5. The postseason will officially begin for the Indians with the Class 2 District 1 Tournament May 12, while the state tournament is set for May 19-20.
