Ninety-three athletes representing 21 schools showed up to compete for the coveted 2016 Bolivar High School Invitational championship on Monday. The 18 hole event took place at the beautiful Silo Ridge Golf Course in Bolivar.
But from the large field on hand to compete, only one team could walk off the course at the end of the day with the tournament title. This year that team was the Lebanon High School Yellowjackets.
The Yellowjackets, behind Cooper Hess' 77 and Jack Ehrhardt's 78, cruised around the course to post a 325, claimING this year's title. Finishing out Lebanon's scoring was Harrison Carr 82, Tryn Titus 88 and Lawrence Bowlin 95.
Lebanon finished seven strokes ahead of runnerup Lee's Summitt who fired a 332. The Tigers were paced by James O'Conner, who carded a 77 for his day's work, and Kerry Maguire's 82. Also putting up impressive numbers for the Summitt were Nelson Searcy 84, Parker Jones 89 and Logan Dahmer 94.
The Yellowjackets, who have already won two tournaments and finished second in another this year, appear to be on track for a successful finish in 2016.
"We still have a long way to go this year, to get where we want to be, but our kids played well enough today to accomplish one of the goals we had set for this year," Lebanon head coach Rod Sullens said in discussing the efforts his Yellowjackets put out in Monday's tournament. "That goal was to win the 'Bolivar Invitational' and they did it."
"These kids are great young men and they're a lot of fun to be around," Sullens said. "They're always fighting for ever stroke, always. They've got an attitude that won't ever let them give up. I'm really proud of them, not just for they success they've enjoyed so far, but for the great kids they are."
Sullens was especially happy for Yellowjacket Cooper Hess's success. Hess, who led all Lebanon linksters is only a freshman. "We've been waiting on him to come up and play with us for the past two years," the Lebanon coach said. "We knew he was going to help us. Cooper works really hard to get better every day, as do his teammates."
Hess' 77 was also good enough to earn him a medal as the tournament's second place finisher.
"I played pretty well today. I was mostly just trying to keep the ball in play but sometimes I left it in pretty tough spots," Hess said. "But fortunately I was able to get some key up and downs when I had to and finished strong."
"I'd really like to say thanks to MSU's Mitch Mather for all the help and encouragement he's given me," Hess went on to say. "He's a big part of the reason that I'm standing here holding this medal today."
Ava's Taylor Halton fired rounds of 36-40 for a 76 to earn top medalist honors.
"I hit really good today. I think the key for my success though was my driver," Halton said. "I was also able to hit my irons to spots that gave me opportunities to make putts. Overall I was really happy with my round."
The 'Bolivar Invitational', which ranks as one of Missouri's best prep tournaments, once again proved to be another stern test for high school hopefuls in 2016.
"We always have lots of teams wanting to get into our tournament," Bolivar head golf coach Jason Hines said. "This tournament is open to all classes so the degree of competitiveness it offers to all teams is great. Silo Ridge also plays host to post-season tournaments so many teams like to have their kids come out and familiarize themselves with it should they be competing here later in May. So our tournament is a good fit for a lot of teams, for a lot of different reasons."
And for Bolivar High? "Our kids placed sixth in an exceptional field. I'm proud of their efforts today," Hines said.
RESULTS
Teams
1. Lebanon 325
2. Lee's Summitt 332
3. Strafford 353
4. Monett 369
5. Carl Junction 370
6. Bolivar 370
7. Ava 383
8. Marshfield 393
9. Cassville 396
10. Waynesville 411
11. Galena 421
12. Hollister 425
13. Stockton 429
14. Purdy 430
15. Reeds Spring 437
16. Fair Grove 446
17. Buffalo492
18. Clever 499.
Top 10 individuals
1. Taylor Halton, Ava, 36-40-76
2. Cooper Hess, Lebanon, 36-41-77
3. James O'Conner, Lee's Summitt West, 40-37-77
4. Adam Cunnyngham, Galena, 37-41-78
5. James Ehrhardt, Lebanon, 35-43-78
6. Harrison Carr, Lebanon, 37-45-82
7. Kerry McGuire, Lee's Summitt West, 42-40-82
8. Garrett Gorder, Strafford, 41-41-82
9. Clayton Kaiser, Monett, 40-43-83
10. Drake Johnson, Bolivar, 42-41-83
