Matz ties for 17th with a round of 87
Staff writer
The Centre High School golf team shot a combined score of 386 Monday at the 1A state tournament in McPherson.
Coach Greg Wyatt said the score was one of the highest the team has posted all year.
“We just didn’t hit the ball well today,” Wyatt said. “Nobody could get something going. You get days like that; it just happened to be the last tournament of the year. You can’t pick when it happens.”
The howling wind at Turkey Creek golf course was a factor in the high scores.
“It moves (the ball) around,” Wyatt said. “You’re going to have to adjust clubs into the wind.”
But, both Wyatt and the Cougars’ low scorer on the day, Adam Matz, said that the Centre had played in that type of wind earlier this year.
“It wasn’t really a surprise for me,” Matz said.
The Cougars have won six of 10 tournaments this year, including a regional win last week at Stafford and wins at Emporia Country Club and Rolling Meadows, which are similar to the course at Turkey Creek. This season also marked the third consecutive year the Cougars have made it to the state tournament.
Wyatt said the Cougars style is to avoid risk and play conservatively. He said that some of his golfers got into early trouble and took more risks to try to dig themselves out of the hole. He hypothesized that the golfers were also prone to take more risks because of the increased stakes with a state championship on the line.
“Today, we took more risks than normal and that gets you in trouble,” Wyatt said.
Matz shot an 87 on the day with a 43 on the front nine and a 44 on the back nine. He wasn’t happy with the performance, but the mark was good enough to tie for 17th and earn a medal from a field that struggled with the wind. The lowest round in the tournament was a 74; the second lowest was an 80.
Wyatt and Matz are optimistic about the team’s chances to continue their streak of state appearances next year. Matz, Brian Burhoop, and Tyler Klenda will return for their senior seasons as well as Dylan Svitak for his sophomore season.
“Not many teams make the state tournament three years in a row,” Wyatt said. “Not many teams win six of 10 tournaments in a year.”
Other scores
Klenda: 51-49 — 100
Jacob Jennings: 63-51 — 114
Heath Hill: 49-49 — 98
Svitak: 48-53 — 101
Burhoop: 65-58 — 123