Tiger golfers enjoy successful week

Fort Scott High School's golf team has had a very good week.

Tuesday, the Tigers had the best individual and team scores at their home tournament at Fort Scott Country Club. The results of the tournament also counted toward the Southeast Kansas League season championships since another league tournament had been rained out earlier in the season. The results put Cole Murrin in first place in the individual race and Fort Scott on top of the team standings.

Wednesday, the Tigers went to Iola to make up the Buck Quincy Invitational where they not only won the team title but also had the top two individual finishes and three of the top five.

Tuesday: Fort Scott Invitational.

In their first action since April 20, the Tigers shot 305 as a team, beating Chanute by 11 strokes. The Blue Comets came into the tournament with the lead in the team standings.

Murrin shot 32 on the front nine and 35 on the back on his home course to finish with a season-best 67. Chanute's Jeremy Gant, who had won every tournament he had entered this season, finished third at 39-37--76.

"The team played exceptionally well," Fort Scott head coach Ken Klassen said. "The 305 is a very good team score. Cole's 67 is the best score in my years of coaching golf. Half of his round was played in a steady rain and he was still very steady. His play has steadily improved in consistency. I'm eager to see what he can achieve next week in the two SEK tournaments, at the Regional and at State."

Gant fell to second in the SEK standings. Peyton Botts of Independence was able to stay in third place after he shot 37-37--74 to finish second on Tuesday.

Paul Norris earned his second medal of the season, finishing fifth for the Tigers at 38-40--78. Nolan Stark won his first medal of the year as he came in 10th with his 40-40--80. Dylan Renfro tied for 11th place after losing the scorecard playoff for 10th at 38-42--80. All three scores were season bests.

"Paul, Nolan and Dylan also played very well," Klassen said. "The rain did bother them but their rounds were very solid."

Tanner Beckham scored 44-49--93 and Evan Heiser shot 49-48--95.

In all, three Fort Scott golfers are in the top 10 in the league. Murrin is on top, Norris is tied for fourth with Mitchell Hale of Chanute, Renfro is tied for eighth with Labette County's Austin Carter and Stark is one of six tied for 16th.

The top 10 golfers after the four SEK tourneys earn All-SEK First Team status. The next 10, including ties, will be All-SEK Honorable Mention.

Wednesday: Iola Buck Quincy Invitational.

Norris won the individual crown at Iola with his 39-37--76 while Murrin was second at 39-40--79.

The Tigers shot 326 as a team, which was 21 strokes higher than on Tuesday but also still 16 strokes better than runner-up Independence.

"In general, we showed some fatigue from the previous day," Klassen said. "Paul Norris was the shining exception. He played very well to win his first tournament title. He should be really proud of his play, which I think will continue the rest of the season."

Stark finished fifth with his scores of 42-42--84 and Heiser made it four Tigers in the top 10 with his eighth-place 44-43--87.

Renfro tied for 11th once again as he carded a 47-41--88. Beckham shot 47-48--95.

The Tigers will have a busy schedule next week. They go to Chanute Monday for the third of the four SEK designated tournaments. Then, they're off to Coffeyville for the final SEK tourney Wednesday. On Thursday, the regular season concludes with a make-up tournament at Parsons.

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Tuesday's Scores

FORT SCOTT TOURNAMENT

Team Scores

1. Fort Scott (FS) 305 (Murrin 67, Norris 78, Stark 80, Renfro 80), 2. Chanute (CH) 316 (Gant 76, Hale 79, Wiltse 79, Minor 82), 3. Pittsburg Colgan (PC) 324 (Sloan 77, Thompson 77, Smith 82, Hudson 88),

4. Parsons 335 (Hoisington 80, Hoose 84, Darkis 85, Walter 86), 5. Pittsburg 344 (Nichols 81, Randall 84, Hudiburg 88, Joy 91), 6. Independence (IN) 348 (Botts 74, Webster 89, Leiker 92, Ysusi 93),

7. Coffeyville (CF) 354 (Vacca 87, Watts 87, Bran.Yeubanks 89, Murreli 91), 8. Iola 363 (A.Ellis 85, C.Ellis 89, Burris 93, Peterson 96), 9. Labette County (LC) 377 (Carter 80, Sparks 81, Vitt 101, Blair 115),

10. Columbus 409 (Schoech 90, Beech 101, Stover 106, Hallam 112).

Medalists

1. Cole Murrin, FS, 32-35--87; 2. Peyton Botts, IN, 37-37--74; 3. Jeremy Gant, CH, 39-37--76; 4. Charlie Sloan, PC, 38-39--77; 5. Kelley Thompson, PC, 39-38--77;

6. Paul Norris, FS, 38-40--78; 7. Mitchell Hale, CH, 36-43--79; 8. Cameron Wiltse, CH, 39-40--79; 9. Austin Carter, LC, 40-40--80; 10. Nolan Stark, FS, 40-40--80.

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Wednesday's Scores

IOLA-BUCK QUINCY

INVITATIONAL

Team Scores

1. Fort Scott (FS) 326 (Norris 76, Murrin 79, Stark 84, Heiser 87), 2. Independence (IN) 342 (Webster 80, Botts 84, Leiker 88, Good 90), 3. Iola (IO) 348 (Burris 86, C.Ellis 86, Stewart 87, Peterson 89),

4. Yates Center (YC) 371 (Stockebrand 87, Morrison 90, Stuber 96, Lenard 98), 5. Chanute 377 (Gray 88, Washburn 91, Specht 93, Bolt 105). 6. Burlington 383 (Lenard 90, Smith 92, Boyce 96, Doebele 105),

7. Iola JV 403 (Hartington 99, Shallah 100, Jacobs 101, Collins 103), 8. Parsons 437 (LaForge 93, Nash 98, Hale 117, Crawford 129), 9. Labette County 465 (Larrin 89, Gupree 122, Carnahan 125, Whitt 129).

Incomplete team: Humboldt.

Medalists

1. Paul Norris, FS, 39-37--76; 2. Cole Murrin, FS, 39-40--79; 3. Garrett Webster, IN, 36-44--80; 4. Peyton Botts, IN, 43-41--84; 5. Nolan Stark, FS, 42-42--84;

6. Bryce Burris, IO, 43-43--86; 7. Chase Ellis, IO, 42-44--86; 8. Evan Heiser, FS, 44-43--87; 9. Paul Stockebrand, YC, 42-45--87; 10. Doug Stewart, IO, 44-43--87.

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SOUTHEAST KANSAS LEAGUE

STANDINGS

After two tournaments

Team Scores

Top 20 Individuals

Other Fort Scott Golfers