SEDALIA — St. Vincent junior Sam Koishor finished with a 10-over-par 154 to claim second place in the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 2 state championship golf tournament and lead the Class 2, District 1 champion Indians to a sixth-place team finish at Sedalia Country Club on May 20.
The Indians, playing in Class 2 for the first time, finished with a 691 total, trailing state champion Palmyra by 18 strokes.
Saxony Lutheran, led by sophomore Bryce Gaebler, who shot an 84-77—161 to finish 10th overall, finished eighth in the team standings at 750.
“I’m really excited for the boys,” said St. Vincent coach Eric Clements. “They did a great job for getting bumped up to Class 2. They really did. We won conference for the season, we won the conference tournament and then we won districts and we got to get all five kids to state, which is a big deal. A lot of times you can only take four, but since our fourth and fifth person tied with scores and they were in above the cut line, we got to take five. So that was awesome.”
The two-day tournament, held on the par 72 course at Sedalia Country Club, posed its own set of challenges in addition to the competition, particularly because of stormy weather, with heavy rain and tornado warnings causing delays and changes to the course conditions to which the players had to adapt.
“The first day was tough with the weather,” Clements said. “We had two stoppages because of lightning. And then the second day, three of our kids had to play the last two or three holes before they could take a little break and get ready to go out there for another 18.
“Our younger kids, a lot of them have never played 18 holes three days in a row — including our practice round — so they were getting a little tired by the end, but they all played their hearts out.”
Clements said the course held up well in the rain, but it proved troublesome, especially on the first day.
“It rained a ton,” Clements said. “We were under tornado warnings all night. We had to take the kids down to the basement at the hotel Monday night. It was chaos. But the course got super down-poured on, lots and lots of rain, and then that really made the pin placement a lot more difficult with it raining. They didn’t have time to cut anything so then the everything was a little bit taller, a little bit different.
“The kids were used to it on Sunday in the practice round and Monday, then everything changed on Tuesday so they kind of had to adapt pretty quick to the differences as far as putting goes. The rough was just so much thicker. We had no problem finding balls the first two days, but the second day, you had to really look for your ball. It was just like a whole different course.”
And the scores reflected it. After shooting a 3-over 75 in the first round — which left him two strokes off the lead behind eventual state champion Ty Brandt, a freshman from Fatima who shot 73- 79—154 — Koishor shot a 6-over 78 in the second round.
“I thought I could compare to that,” Koishor said. “I felt that I had a real good chance at coming back the next day and shooting a solid score just like he did. After day one, I was only two strokes back, so I definitely had a mentality I was not out of this. I felt like I had good chance of winning.”
The tournament also featured live scoring for the first time. Koishor, who’s played in the state tournament for three seasons, said he was big fan.
“I love the live scoring, Koishor said. “I think it helps me tell myself, ‘Okay I’m here. I need to do this and this. I’ve got to finish strong.’ I love looking at it and being able to see where I’m at and how I can compare myself to other people.”
And the added pressure? Koishor said he welcomed it.
“I always like pressure,” Koishor said. “I think, on the first tee when they announce your name for everybody, I love that. I wish they did it at every tournament. I just like the pressure.”
Individually for St. Vincent, sophomore Adam Brickhaus shot a 84-89—173 to land in a 5-way tie for 38th, sophomore Colden Prost finished with a 90-87—177 and a 4-way tie for 52, sophomore Quinton Doza shot a 93- 94—187 to finish 72nd, and freshman Brecken Reiss — who’d never played 18 holes before — shot a 97-101—198 to finish 82nd.
For Saxony Lutheran, senior Wesley Kiehne shot a two-round 92-84—176 to land in a three-way tie for 49th, senior Thomas Hasz tied for 73rd with a 98-91—189, and senior Marvin Nash Jr. shot 104-120—224 to finish 89th.
“Given the circumstances of how the course changed the second day, I couldn’t be disappointed,” Clements said. “The kids did exactly what we asked them to do. We had some really stout competition this year [playing in Class 2 versus Class 1]. I think it just motivates those kids even more to come back. Our kids are all competitors. The way they push each other makes my job easy. It’s just so fun watching these kids.”
Clements added that having such a young team bodes well for the future.
“I mean, we were 18 strokes out of first,” Clements said. “We’re young and we know we’re going to be back. So I think it just pushes us up to work harder for next year.”
Koishor echoed his coach’s sentiment, saying he’s already making plans on what he needs to do to improve, both personally and as a team.
“I won districts, which was cool, but then I was really set out to win state,” Koishor said. “Getting second was not really a bummer, but I was really hoping for first. Next year is going to be a real fun and exciting. I want to get more consistent. I feel like I left a lot out there during state that I had done good in previous tournaments. Consistency is one thing I really, really want to work on, but I also want grow as a team.
“We had a really young team this year with three sophomores and a freshman going up to state. I think next year, everyone’s going to figure their stuff out. I think going back next year is going to be real fun.”
