Tiger golfers 3rd at Indy

INDEPENDENCE -- Fort Scott High School's golf team started finished third at the Independence Invitational Thursday with two golfers in the top 10.

This was the first of four Southeast Kansas League designated tournaments, but Tigers were also competing against three non-league schools in the 10-team field. So where league teams and individuals places doesn't necessarily match where they are in the SEK at the moment.

Independence won the tournament on its home course with a four-man, nine-hole score of 323. Iola, a non-league school, was second with a 337. Fort Scott finished third at 345.

"Our team competed well," Fort Scott head coach Ken Klassen said. "We came in only three strokes lower than at the Iola tournament on Tuesday, but we played on a more challenging course, one we will again compete on in our Regional in May. If we continue to improve, we definitely can be competitive at the State qualifier."

An Iola player, Kaden Macha, won the individual crown, shooting 37 on the front nine and 38 on the back to finish at 75. The second-place finisher was Indy's Logan Taylor, who shot 38-39--77 and assumes the lead in the SEK. Independence golfers also took the next two spots on tie-breakers as five golfers, including Fort Scott's Jonathan Allen, finished with 81s.

Third place went to Caleb Vowell of Independence (40-41) with fourth going to teammate Keenan Nutt (43-38). Allen was placed fifth (40-41) followed by Coffeyville's Logan Vacca (38-43) and Columbus' Dawson Soper (39-42). Conner Antonetti of Fort Scott shot 39-43--82 to finish eighth.

"They should be very much in the hunt for the SEK championship as the season progresses," Klassen said of Allen and Antonetti. "Both, as the expression goes, left a number of strokes on the course."

Tucker Horn finished 12th in the tournament after shooting 41-44--85 but after taking the non-league golfers out of the equation, he's in ninth place in the SEK. Dane Ramsey rounded out the four-man team score with 47-45--92. Clayton Hixon is just outside the league's top 20 at 48-50--98. And Weston Woodring finished at 65-60--125.

"Tucker has a great swing, and I'm waiting for him to turn in some very outstanding rounds," Klassen says. "Dane Ramsey had an up-and-down round and played a number of solid holes with a few interspersed scoring lapses. Clayton Hixon shows improvement and struck the ball well, but had difficulties putting, normally a strength of his game. I'm amazed at his grit in dealing with his leg, but proud of him regardless of his scores. Weston Woodring, our senior newcomer, rounded out our scoring. He did surprisingly well for his limited experience.

"We as a group need to make smart decisions as much as technically continue to improve."

Fort Scott's next outing is Tuesday at Pittsburg's Crestwood Country Club for the second of the four SEK tournaments. Play is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Team scores

1. Independence (IN) 323 (Taylor 77, Nutt, 81, Vowell 81, Wesselowski 84), 2. Iola (IO) 337 (Macha 75, Dieker 83, Walden 87, Jacobs 92), 3. Fort Scott (FS) 340 (Allen 81, Antonetti 82, Horn 82, Ramsey 92),

4. Labette County (LC) 345 (Page 84, Krewson 87, Nelson 86, Carson 88), 5. Columbus (CL) 353 (Soper 81, Schoech 89, Kreysman 90, Robinson 93), 6. Parsons 397 (Brewer 90, Walker 94, Head 106, Misener 107),

7. Pittsburg 404 (Austin 97, Smith 99 Brooks 101, Commons 107), 8. Girard 405 (Wuerdeman 95, Boore 98, Westhoff 104, Hyman 108), 9. Coffeyville (CF) 417 (Vacca 81, Garrison 89, Becker 117, Porter 130),

10. Chanute 422 (Gericke 100, Funk 105, Wolverton 108, Donaldson 109).

Medalists

1. Kaden Macha, IO, 37-38--75; 2. Logan Taylor, IN, 39-39--77; 3. Cale Vowell, IN, 40-41--81; 4. Keenan Nutt, IN, 43-38--81; 5. Jonathan Allen, FS, 40-41--81;

6. Logan Vacca, CF, 38-43--81; 7. Dawson Soper, CL, 39-42--81; 8. Conner Antonetti, FS, 39-43--82; 9. Drake Dieker, IO, 44-39--83; 10. Braden Page, LC, 38-46--84.

LEAGUE STANDINGS

After one of four tournaments

TEAM

INDIVIDUAL