By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
CARTHAGE, Mo. – One by one the scores were posted on a board behind the clubhouse, and the space next to Dane Puckett’s name remained blank.
When Puckett’s score was finally posted – after 59 others – it went up in red ink.
The Springfield Catholic junior turned in a two-under-par 69 to win the Big 8 Conference boys golf tournament on Tuesday at the Carthage Golf Course.
“That was by far the best I’ve played all year for sure,” said Puckett, who is Catholic’s No. 3 golfer.
“I hit the fairways, hit all my fairways,” he said. “I hit the ball really good. I made a few mistakes on the putting green.”
Puckett helped Catholic to a first-place finish in the team standings. It wasn’t even close; the Irish finished 35 strokes ahead of second-place Mt. Vernon, shooting 308 as a team. All five Catholic golfers earned all-conference status.
Puckett started on the second hole and birdied it. He was at 4-under through his first nine holes, and after three bogeys on the back nine, he finished his round with a birdie on the first hole.
“Just a good day,” he said. “Hit the ball really well.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE TOURNAMENT
“When your number three wins it, that’s a lot of strokes made up on any team,” said Catholic coach Don East. “There were some good players here today and he just kept his head down and kept playing so he probably made up 10 or more of the strokes himself by being in the three position and winning it.”
The performance came five days after Puckett shot 73 at Rivercut and tied for second at the All-City tournament in Springfield.
“His tee shots were really getting where they needed to be,” East said. “The ball was going where he wanted it to go. He made a couple of very good shots and his putting was good enough that he came in under.”
Catholic junior Walker Tynes finished in third place at 77, junior Walker Serrano was fourth at 78 and senior Calvin Sanders tied for eighth at 84. Junior Joe Muenks shot 86 and placed 15th.
The top 20 golfers earned All-Conference honors.
East pointed to Sanders’ performance as another highlight of the day.
“He’s my number five and it’s his first year playing golf with us and he just keeps going lower and lower,” he said. “We’ve counted his score I think three times now. He’s doing a good job for us.”
The team score of 308 was Catholic’s best this season by two strokes. The Irish shot 310 at the MSU Relays in early April.
“We’re peaking when we need to be,” East said. “We go to districts next week so we’ve got a little match (Wednesday) to fine-tune us and have a little practice and then we head to Marshfield to see if we can’t do something up there and get on to the next level.”
All-Conference honors
Monett’s Clayton Kaiser was a strong challenger for the individual championship. He finished one stroke behind Puckett with a 70 and made five birdies and an eagle but had four bogeys and a double. The rest of the top 20 were Nevada’s Bronson Smith (5th–79), Nevada’s Owen Swearingen (6th–81), Mt. Vernon’s Kaden Killingsworth (7th–83), Mt. Vernon’s Curtis Wendler (T8th–84), Logan Rogersville’s Brooks Brewer (T8th–84), Reeds Spring’s Ross McMurdo (T8th–84), Monett’s Nick Pilkenton (T12th–85), Seneca’s Dayton Fields (T12–85), Marshfield’s James Ghan (T12–85), Cassville’s Dylan McCormick (T16th–87), Nevada’s Carter Swearingen (T16th–87), Reeds Spring’s Ty Cooper (T16th–87), Seneca’s Caleb Garcia (T16th–87) and Mt. Vernon’s Colin Bartelsmeyer (T16th–87).
Team standings
Springfield Catholic 308
Mt. Vernon 343
Monett 348
Nevada 355
Cassville 363
Logan Rogersville 364
Reeds Spring 366
Marshfield 380
Hollister 389
Lamar 393
Aurora 401
McDonald County 413
Seneca NS
