Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Kimball High School's boys golf team, pictured above, won the Class C District Tournament on Tuesday, May 17 and earned a trip to the state contest May 24-25 in Kearney. Pictured from left are Dillon Wise, Zane Anthony, Jordan Greenwood, Izaac Reuter and Andrew McCloud.
Longhorn Jordan Greenwood, left, is pictured here with his father, Kenny after winning the top individual at the Class C District Tournament in Valentine. Greenwood, a junior in Kimball, will be making his third trip to state competition as an individual, but his first with his team.
The Kimball High golf team could sing "We are the Champions," all the long way home from Valentine Tuesday evening after destroying the rest of the field at the Class C District Tournament being held at the prestigious Prairie Club's Pine Course. With another awesome performance by the entire team, the Longhorns shot 319 to win by 20 strokes over runner up Southern Valley with their score of 339, and third place Perkins County with a 347. The top three teams advance to the State Tournament.
Let Jordan Greenwood carry the championship trophy as the talented junior once again topped the entire field in almost unbelievable fashion, shooting three under par 70 to take the top individual medalist honor by six strokes. He did this on a course that was felt by many as being perhaps too challenging for a High School District event. Nothing seems to to be too challenging for this young man who will be making his third straight trip to a state tournament site.
Jordan got his game going early, shooting three under on the front nine and then shooting even par on the back nine with his score card showing 33-37=70! Let's all take a moment to salute this young man who rose to the occasion one more time. What's even more gratifying is this time he gets to travel with his entire team, not as an individual.
The Horns had four players finish in the top ten medal group meaning that they had four golfers who would have qualified as individuals as the top three teams and top 10 individuals advance to state tournament play. A great day for freshman Izaac Reuter who shot 41-41=82 to finish eighth. A great day for freshman Dillon Wise who shot 40-44=84 to finish tenth. Add them up and you have 319 as each team can play five and score the four low scores for the team tally. I repeat one more time a great day for sophomore Andrew McCloud who shot 41-46=87 and finished just out of the top ten medal group. Five golfers under 90 and all five return next year! A salute to all five, if you please.
The Horns made the long trip to Valentine on Sunday with a plan to play a practice round on Monday. It rained hard all day Sunday and Monday began the same way. Finally the sun broke through and Kimball got on the course Monday afternoon to take a look at what they would be battling on Tuesday. Coach Chad Wise had his strategy planned our and at practice before they left for Valentine he asked the public to come out and follow his players for four holes and give them a feel for what it might be like playing in front of a large tournament crowd. The Horns played like they had no pressure on them!
Coach Wise described the highly touted Pine Course as having tough waste bunkers.
"You have to play the course smart and keep it in the fairways using what ever club in your bag allows you to do that. The greens were slow, at least to our standards, and with lots of undulations. It was a good course," Wise said.
Wise went on to say that play was slow with some players on the course eight hours. As to commenting on the win and on his team, Coach Wise said, "I am so proud of these guys. We are so young with three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior, but they handle the pressure well. Now, on to state."
After a string of team qualifications from 2004 through 2012, the Longhorns have not sent a team to state the past three seasons. As mentioned, Greenwood has qualified as an individual, and was a state medalist, the past two years.
The Class C Tournament site is the Kearney Country Club Course with play on the Tuesday and Wednesday. Kimball tee times on the opening day are Dillon Wise 9:40 on hole number one, Zane Anthony 9:50 on hole number one, Andrew McCloud 9:50 on hole number 10 and Jordan Greenwood, 11:20 on hole number one.