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Nevada golf takes second at Sectional
SMITHVILLE, Mo. -- Weather forced the delay of the Class 3, Sectional 4 Tournament, at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex Monday and even though moving it back a day did turn out to be what tournament officials needed to do, the weather was still a factor when the Nevada Tigers golf team took to the course in search of the first Sectional Championship in head coach Brian Leonard's career.
"It was cold out," Leonard said. "It was very cold out. When the sun came out, it didn't get too bad."
Though that cold weather could have been a significant difference-maker in the tournament, it didn't seem to have much of an impact on the Tigers as a team, as they didn't quite get Leonard his first Sectional title as a coach, but were able to finish second, still qualifying the entire team for next week's state tournament. The Tigers finished with a team score of 328, just two strokes behind the 326 turned in by Sectional Champion Pembroke Hill.
"They all played pretty well," Leonard said, adding that this year is the first time the whole team qualified for the state tournament in his 10-year tenure at the helm of the Tigers program. "That was always the thing I was looking for."
The last time a Nevada Tigers golf team qualified all of its members for the state tournament was in 2000, Leonard said.
Though the Tigers didn't get a team Sectional Championship, one player on Leonard's roster does get to claim that title. Freshman John Quitno won the tournament individually, with a 1-under-par 71 that could have even been better, since he missed a four-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have put him at 2-under.
"That was a great day," Leonard said of the freshman's round. "You can't beat that."
Quitno beat St. Pius X's Chris Beaubien by four strokes, as he finished second at 75. Warrensburg's Bailey Woods, Pembroke Hill's Preston Fleenor and Savannah's Trent Young rounded out the tournament's top five individual finishers.
Not only was that score enough to secure the tournament's top individual finish, it was the best score any Nevada golfer has ever shot on a par-72 course. According to Leonard, Billy Wynn and Chad Snyder both shot the same score in 1985 and 1992, respectively, but both of those scores were turned in on par-70 courses.
Wynn beat Quitno's score once, but the one time he turned in a 70, it was on a par-70 course, still leaving Quitno as the only Nevada golfer to ever finish an 18-hole tournament under par.
Thanks to that solid performance, combined with the success Quitno has enjoyed all season, Leonard said his chances at the state tournament should be good.
"He's probably going to be one of the favorites to possibly win state, also," Leonard said. "I know he'll be in the top 15."
Quitno's brother, Andrew, was a distant second on the team, as he finished 15th overall, at 84.
"He hit the cart path and the ball took off on one hole," Leonard said of the elder Quitno. "But again, good round."
Levi Palmer posted the third-best score of the day for the Tigers as he finished in a tie for 16th, just one stroke behind Andrew Quitno, at 85. Patrick Ferry wasn't far behind as he tied for 24th, at 88, and Jacob Hammontree rounded out the order for the Tigers in a tie for 34th overall, at 92.
Though hopes are very high for the possibility of John Quitno earning All-State honors and maybe, even an individual state championship, Leonard's ideas for what the Tigers might be able to do in the tournament as a team are much different. Though he did say a team championship might be out of reach, his hopes are high for his squad to finish mid-pack in the team standings, if not higher.
"Team wise, I think our goal is to get top four," Leonard said. "I think we can do it, I really do."
Despite having his hopes and expectations figured out, everything isn't quite clear in Leonard's mind, just yet. When asked how it felt to have his entire team on the list of players who made the state tournament cut, he wasn't nearly as sure.
"I don't know yet," he said. "I don't think it will hit me, probably, until tomorrow."
This year's Missouri State High School Activities Association Class Boys' Golf Championship tournament is scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday, at Fremont Hills Country Club, in Nixa, Mo. Tee times begin at 8 a.m.
John Quitno is scheduled to tee off at 8 a.m., followed by Andrew Quitno at 8:09, Palmer at 8:18, Ferry at 8:27, and Hammontree at 8:36. All five of Nevada's golfers will open the tournament on the course's back nine.
"I'm excited for the boys because they've had a great season," Leonard said.