State golf produces no local medalists
NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. – North County junior Will Dugal highlighted a stellar opening round at the Class 4 state golf tournament with three birdies.
With glorious weather conditions abounding at Meadow Lake Acres, the reigning MAAA conference champion found himself tied for second place among 83 players at the midway point.
Dugal remained firmly in medal contention and tied for seventh with six holes to play during round two on Tuesday before a perplexing sequence dashed his hopes in a blink.
Two additional birdies were negated by a crushing 12 at the par-4 No. 14, where he previously carded a 3, and Dugal followed his first-round 74 with a 90 to finish 32nd overall.
An ensuing double bogey removed any hopes of working back toward the top-15 awards cut, and the MAAA was ultimately shut out from medal distinction at three different sites.
Aiden Asby of Bolivar tallied an even par 144 to edge Andrew Hennen of Lutheran South by one stroke for the individual Class 4 title. Webster Groves earned the team crown with a 639 (+63).
North County and Farmington featured two qualifiers each this year. Freshman Ruger Govero showed consistency over two rounds for the Raiders.
Govero birdied the par-5 11th on both days in his state debut, and picked up another birdie at the 12th on Tuesday while carding 83 on the heels of a previous 82 to join a five-way tie for 38th place.
Nate Kochis improved from an opening 86 to an 83 for the Knights despite suffering a triple bogey at No. 12. Senior teammate J.P. Ruble was two shots behind him with a two-day 171.
Ste. Genevieve qualified as a full team in Class 3 after securing district runner-up status, but ended with an incomplete score once the first round of Jayden Rhinehart was officially disqualified.
Although Grant Weiler (197) and Kellen Hogenmiller (203) neared the bottom of the leaderboard, the Dragons still salvaged the best individual performance by an MAAA individual.
Gavin Huck began the event at Sedalia Country Club with an 11-over-par 81 Monday, but delivered a top-10 second round amid the field of 86 qualifiers.
Consecutive birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 were his third and fourth of the day, stamping an even-par back nine, and an ultimate 75 landed Huck in 21st place overall with 156.
Father Tolton brought home the team championship by a margin of 14 strokes. Samuel Schoeberl of Bishop LeBlond and Logan Cox of Hallsville shared the individual title with 36-hole totals of 144.
Dalton Winick carded 183 and Braydon McMinn had 190 with one birdie each for Fredericktown.
Sophomore Bo Briley slipped to a composite 250 while representing West County in Class 2 action at Columbia Country Club.
Ste. Genevieve junior Gavin Huck practices a par putt during the MAAA golf tournament on Monday, May 2, 2022, at Crown Pointe Golf Club in Farmington.
