MHS golf: Warriors do well at Hillsboro
Sports reporter
Playing on the most familiar course other than Marion Country Club, the Marion High School golf team brought home the four and six-man trophies Friday at the Hillsboro Invitational.
Individually, the Warriors earned three medals.
Jake Bredemeier led the way for MHS, taking third place after shooting a 79.
Keith Jones and Luke Gordon both finished at 80, while Jones won the tie-break for fourth.
Landon Leiker, who shot a 92, was grouped with the other three in the four-man competition.
Their combined score of 331 was 20 strokes ahead of second place Chapman.
Lindsay Hett (92) and Olle Gemfors (98), made sure all six golfers stayed under 100.
The six together took first place in the six-man competition, shooting 519.
Hillsboro was second at 535.
Hett and Gemfors were fourth out of 10 in the two-man competition.
Head coach Rex Ostmeyer was glad to see his top three golfers near the top of the pile, but knows they can do better.
"All of them would tell you they could have played a little better," he said. "But for the first meet out they all three did some good things."
That shows the third-year coach expects a lot, and knows those three have the talent to go far.
"They have a few things to fine tune with their short games, and those guys will be solid."
Ostmeyer also was pleased with Hett who he said "is getting better and better every meet," and with Leiker and Gemfors who have not played a lot of tournament golf in the past.
One of the biggest differences Ostmeyer said of tournament golf compared to just going out and playing for fun, is staying focused.
"You have to stay focused and block out surrounding stuff," Ostmeyer said. "You have to be on damage control."
Ostmeyer said Leiker played in a group that struggled all day, and Leiker lost his concentration a bit.
"You have to be aggressive but when something bad happens you've got to figure out how to keep it from being a catastrophe."
Gemfors had a 13 on one hole, keeping him from a great score.
"A triple bogey is a bad score, but even if he shot that, he would have been at 92 and right there with the rest of them," Ostmeyer said.
But he was happy with how the fourth, fifth, and sixth golfers handled themselves.
"I was real happy with them," Ostmeyer said.
Herington
The Warriors opened their season April 1 at the Herington Invitational.
Ostmeyer took just four golfers to the meet.
It was Hett leading the way with a 92.
Leiker came in at 94, Gemfors 100, and Jordan Versch 110.
"For Jordan and Olle, this was their first meet ever, and they scored better than they had in qualifying," Ostmeyer said.
The sophomore Hett and freshman Leiker keep improving.
"They both showed they have the ability to be our fourth varsity score — the score we really need," Ostmeyer said.
Although no one earned a medal the team was fifth in the four-man competition.
"I was pleased with how the kids played," Ostmeyer said. "They all came back stronger on the second nine holes, and they all showed they have the ability to improve over the course of the year."
The Warriors will be in action Monday at the Council Grove Invitational, and will host a junior varsity meet Tuesday.
