Antonetti seeks State medal in McPherson

Conner Antonetti (Tribune photo)

Fort Scott High School senior Conner Antonetti has been a golfer long before going out for the Tiger team as a freshman.

"When I was 2, I think, was when I first got a club in my hand, and since then, I've taken off with it," he said during a Thursday-afternoon interview at Woodland Hills Golf Course.

Antonetti has qualified for Class 4A State Tournament competition for the second consecutive season and will play at Turkey Hills Golf Course in McPherson on Tuesday.

Antonetti qualified for State by shooting a 78 at Osawatomie Monday to win the Regional title, beating out Iola's Kaden Macha, who has been one of --if not the top -- golfer in the area for the past couple of seasons.

It was a matter of being in position just to have that chance to win with about three or four hole remaining that Antonetti says was the difference on Monday.

"Going into Regionals, I was playing well," he said. "I'd shot two 74s in two tournaments, which I was happy with. Then going into that, I though, 'Just keep confident all the way throughout the round.' I had some holes where I just played awful. And then, thankfully, I had those holes where I could say, 'I can bounce back.'

"I hit two or three good shots in a row that got me going. And then going into 16, I'm down 1. Then going into hole 18, we're all square. I got to tee off first and I crushed a drive. I had 150 (yards) left. Kaden had probably 200. He hit a 4-iron, which, I think, went to the right a little bit. He's got to make 4 somehow. All I had to do was put my ball on the green and chip out for par, which I did. Then he didn't make par. That's how that finished out."

Antonetti and Macha were the only golfers in the Regional who shot lower than 80. And only Ottawa's Parker Olmstead, who finished with with an 80, managed to shoot under 40 on either nine (Antonetti had a pair of 39s; Macha had a 38 on the front nine).

Antonetti says he would be happy with a top-10 finish at State and a top-five would be even better. He might be able to give himself a chance to do better if he can be in position around the 15th hole, as he was earlier this week.

"Right now, going into the tournament, I'm just trying to place top 10," he says. "Getting first would be great. But it would have to be a great round of golf. I can get top 10, I'll be happy. To get first in the State, you have to play very, very well. There are kids who I play with in the summer who are very good. Hopefully, I put myself in a place where coming down 15, 16, 17, 18, I've got a chance to win; I'm not 5 or 6 over par. I think that was the thing at Regionals: I had a chance. I've had chances in regular high-school tournaments where I've let chances slip away. So that was huge in that I got over that hump."

In preparation for State, Antonetti is trying to keep his routine the same as the rest of the season.

"I get here (Woodland Hills) about 12, doing my chipping and putting," he says. "Then I go out to the range and work on the driver, woods and irons. Then I'll play. The thing for me is to keep doing the same things I've been doing all year. And the key for State is can those things come together at the right time?"

Before the tournament begins, he'll also keep to the schedule he had at Regionals. He was among the last to tee off there and will be near the last again here, teeing off from No. 1 along with Columbus senior Joe Schoech, Topeka Hayden senior Zack Wurtz and Andale senior Jordan Anderson.

"At State, I tee off at 10:20. So it's not too late," he says. "Thankfully, at the Regional, we did the same thing. I was in the last group. We got there about 7:30. I sat in the car with my headphones on, trying to get focused. I try to give myself 15 minutes to prepare. When we go to State, I'll probably give myself about that same time, keep my normal routine going."

Although he is a Regional champion, Antonetti realizes what lies ahead is not easy.

"When I got done (at Regionals), I was like, 'Okay, that step is now finished,'" he said. "The next trip is to try to win State, which is going to be hard. The course we're going to play out there is going to be very tough. I've been playing well these past two or three tournaments. To win State, I'm going to have to shoot very low. And hopefully, it happens."