By Pat Dailey (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
BRANSON —Strafford’s Taylor Stone was glad to deal with a sunburn Monday in exchange for claiming Class 2, District 3 medalist honors.
Playing on a balmy, sunny day for practically the first time all spring, Stone fired a 12 over-par 80 at Holiday Hills Golf Course to beat the rest of the 50-man field by seven strokes.
Fair Grove placed three golfers in the top six while winning the team title with a 376
Stone was one of the few players not wearing a hat.
“I have a bucket hat, but when it gets windy like today it kind of gets in the way and in my eyes,” Stone said. “So, I went without the hat. I should have brought a golf hat. I’m going to be extremely sun-burned. But I’ll take it.”
Stone was one of only two returning state-qualifiers in the field and was second last year at Districts last year, also at Holiday Hills.
“When it’s your first time at Districts, I think there’s a lot of pressure. It helps to have been there before,” Stone said. “I know how to deal with nerves and not worry too much about one shot.
“I was optimistic coming in. I felt like I might have a chance if I played well. But I tried not to think too much. You never really know going in.”
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Stone started out with a bogey on hole No. 1, but went on to post a 37 on the front nine.
“A par on (the 143-yard, par-3) No. 2 was pretty important to me,” he said. “On that hole, you make a big score pretty quickly. The front nine went on to be pretty good. I wasn’t making a lot of putts, but was hitting a lot of greens.”
Stone was proud to play with the same ball all day and for keeping his ball inbounds the entire round.
Still, he wondered if he had given away medalist honors by finishing with a quadruple-bogey on the par-4, 403-yard No. 18.
“My drive was kind of in the trees, so I had to hit a big fader around them,” Stone said. “But instead of fading it, I hit an awful shot 60 yards over the green. I skulled it. Then, I hit a wedge almost out of bounds. I chipped up short of the green. I chipped again and was on top of a ridge. I chipped past the ridge and then missed my putt coming back.”
On a positive note, Stone considered the timing of his snowman to be fortunate.
“I’d much rather make a quad on the 18th than the first,” he said.
Spokane’s Chase Horton was runner-up with an 87, after recording a 91 in a practice round at Holiday Hills over the weekend. While the great majority of players shot a lower score on the front nine, Horton was better on the back nine with a 42.
“My back nine was tremendous,” Horton said. “My irons were working pretty good. I had a slight draw and had to adapt.”
Horton was in the majority by having to endure a delay due to a ruling in a group ahead that officials debated on for 25 minutes. Horton’s foursome was eventually joined by three other groups while backed up on the tee box on hole No. 5.
“Everyone was butt to butt with each other,” Horton said.
He was mindful to keep his body active.
“I kept swinging because I didn’t want to stiffen up,” Horton said. “The players in my group laid down. I told myself that if I did that, I’d stiffen up and have to find my swing again. I didn’t want to do that. So, I kept in motion.
“A lot of people were complaining about being backed up and clumped together. But I still think it turned out to be a beautiful day.”
Horton is headed to Sectionals for the second year and will attempt to become Spokane’s first State qualifier. The Owls hit the links for the first time in school history a year ago. But Horton’s golfing background dates back as long as he can remember, thanks to his great-grandmother, Rex Cloud.
“She lived on a golf course (a former par-3 chip-and-putt track in Kimberling City), so golf was basically what I knew growing up,” Horton said. “I used to go out on the course with her and we’d practice everything.”
Fair Grove’s championship was led by Shain Lahey, who was third with an 88. The Eagles’ Gavin Perterie was fifth with a 91, Matthew Keller tied for sixth with a 92 and Thomas Bruemmer tied for 13th with a 98.
Lahey kept his focus when shots weren’t going his way by reminding himself of the team standings.
“I started rough and ended rough, but my round was all right,” Lahey said. “I shot an 86 here at Districts last year. So, I was two strokes worse. I had kind of a bad attitude out there today. But I had to think positive and help my team out.”
Lacey will try to make a return to State next week at Sectionals at Rolling Hills Country Club in Versailles.
“I want to increase my accuracy off the tee and work on my putting,” Lahey said. “If I can get those two areas worked out, I’ll be sitting pretty.”
Class 2 District 3
Team Standings
1. Fair Grove 376, 2. Mt. Vernon 384, 3. Spokane 396, 4. Strafford 398, 5. Seneca 426, 6. Clever 435, 7. Ash Grove 437, 8. Forsyth 437, 9. Diamond 450, 10. Sarcoxie 452
Individual Results (par-68 @ Holiday Hills Golf Course)
Top 25
1. Taylor Stone, Strafford 80; 2. Chase Horn, Spokane 87; 3. Shain Lahey, Fair Grove 88; 4. Christian Cooper, Spokane 89; 5. Gavin Perterie, Fair Grove 91; 6. (tie) Matthew Keller, Fair Grove 92; Bryce Sprague, Diamond 92 and Curtis Wendler, Mt. Vernon 92; 9. (tie) Dayton Fields, Seneca 94 and Reuben Randolph, Mt. Vernon 94; 11. Caleb Garcia, Seneca 96; 12. Ryan Cota, Mt. Vernon 97; 13. (tie) Thomas Bruemmer, Fair Grove 98; Jason Cochran, Clever 98; Cody Delcour, Conway 98 and Lane Smith, Forsyth 98; 17. Jayden Kensinger, Fair Grove 99; 18. (tie) Trey Logsdon, Forsyth 100 and Kaelin Tate, Ash Grove 100; 20. (tie) Spencer Crane, Clever 101 and Kaden Killingsworth, Mt. Vernon 101; 22. (tie) Peyton Bonzer, Spokane 102 ad Bryce Campbell, Strafford 102; 24. Trace Corner, Clever 103; 25. (tie) Josh Jarvis, Mt. Vernon 104 and Nickolas Losh, Sarcoxie 104.
