Even rainy days and Monday's couldn't dampen the Greenwood High School golf team's run for a tournament title in this year's Logan-Rogersville Invitational.
The Blue Jays braved their way through the early morning rain and wind, at the Springfield Country Club Golf Course yesterday morning, to post a 327 and grab the '2016 Logan-Rogersville' championship.
Greenwood finished five strokes better than the runnerup Strafford Indians who registered a 332 and eighteen strokes better than the Springfield Catholic Fightin Irish who fired a 345.
But Greenwood's start was full of challenges.
"We started out horribly today, the weather had made a real mess out of the course," said Greenwood head coach David Oatman. "There was standing water all over the course and puddles on the greens. But the the rain stopped soon after play began, the wind began to blow and things began to dry out. As a result our back nine play was much better than the front."
Tony Brandt led the Blue Jay effort carding a low round of 75, good enough to also earn him top medalist honors at the invitational. He was aided in his efforts by teammates Tony Montileone- 80, John Ankrom- 84, Jacob Kassing- 88 and Matt Rowe- 90.
"It was really wet and windy for the first five or six holes of play," Brandt said in discussing his play at the 'Logan-Rogersville Invitational'. "As for me I struggled off the tee's a lot today, and missed a few short putts I'd like to have had over, but I did hit a lot of good iron shots throughout my round. But considering how bad the weather was at the beginning of the tournament, and the shape of the course, I feel like a 75 was pretty solid."
Brandt's play, along with the efforts of his teammates, drew words of praise from their coach.
"We have some very talented young men on our team this year, who all work very hard, and they've all set very high standards for themselves," coach Oatman said. "We tell the kids to be patient on the course, to stay persistent, focused and to never give up no matter what. They've held on to that philosophy pretty well this year and especially today. They weathered out the early morning holes and then rallied in the afternoon to get the win. In doing so they put up our best team score of the season. I'm really very proud of them all."
Especially happy with the way things turned out in the '2016 Logan-Rogersville Invitational' was Johnathan Felton, head coach for Logan-Rogersville. "We were worried that we wouldn't be able to get it in, the way the weather started out," Felton said. "But the sun came out, the kids played hard and coaches stepped forward to help make our tournament a success. I'm really pleased."
Leading the way for second place Strafford, in Monday's tourney, was Braden Campbell. Campbell shot rounds of 43-38 to finish at 81. Rounding out the Indian scoring were Tristan Crow- 82, Garrett Gorder- 83, Tristan Losh- 86 and Deyon Edwards- 99.
Nate Bailey's 78 paced the third place Springfield Catholic Fightin Irish. Others carding scores for the Irish were Nick Palmer- 87, Michael Zolfaghari- 89, John Gambon- 91 and Jake Branham- 93.
Varsity Results
1. Greenwood 327
2. Strafford 332
3. Sprfd. Catholic 345
4. Ozark 352
5. Republic 355
6. Branson 373
7. Bolivar 374
8. Hollister 395
9. . Mt. Vernon 402
10. Fair Grove 404
11. Reeds Spring 417
Varsity Medalists
1. Tony Brandt Greenwood 75
2. Nate Bailey Springfield Catholic 78
3. Tom Montileone Greenwood 80
4. Braden Campbell Strafford 81
5. Tristan Crow Strafford 82
Junior Varsity Results
1. Nixa 344
2. Logan-Rogersville 384
3. Republic 399
4. Willard 431
5. Ozark 432
6. Branson 462
7. Greenwood 464
8. Strafford 479
9. Reeds Spring 499
10. Fair Grove 503
11. Mt. Vernon 509
Junior Varsity Medalists
1. Kyle Faulk Nixa 82
2. Gavin Fararr Nixa 83
3. Cole Eagleburger Nixa 88
4. Dusty Middleton Nixa 91
5. Chris Castleberry LR 93
