They didn't take golf all that seriously.
I mean, really, golf? Seriously?
For Will Basler, the answer was no. Same for Jordan Collier and Joseph Richmeyer. Ditto Kelly Reeves.
Almost the entire lineup for the South Division squad in the Jefferson County Junior Golf season-ending Ryder Cup event was, for the longest time, committed to anything ... except golf. Basler was a baseball player. Reeves, too. Collier's focus was hoops. Richmeyer's love was tennis.
"I've been a baseball guy since I was, like, 4," Basler said.
He was a baseball guy in the spring at St. Pius X. An outfielder, he also was one of the iron men who powered the 11-man Jeffco Barnstormers roster into contention in the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association this summer.
At 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds, the 18-year-old Basler looks the part. A May grad at St. Pius, he looks like a guy who could turn on a fastball or chase down a long fly in the gap.
But Basler has been inching nearer and nearer to golf during the last year or two. The sport moved up his things-to-do list. Golf grabbed some of his time. And some of his heart.
And, apparently, he's not alone.
Last Friday at House Springs Golf Course, a South squad of multi-sport athletes won the JCJG Ryder Cup. The South Division knocked off the North 12-4 in the season-ending match-play event. It was the second win in three years for the South.
The JCJG program and the Ryder Cup are sponsored by the Jefferson County Parks and Recreation Department.
Basler, playing in the No. 3 spot in the South lineup this year, quietly has become one of the most successful players ever to tee it up for the South team in the match play. His 7-and-6 victory (seven up with six holes to play) against Brett Knese on Friday was his third consecutive Ryder Cup win and his fifth in six years.
Also winning for the South on Friday: Reeves, Collier, Avery Moser and Tyler Schnurbusch, in the Nos. 4-7 lineup spots
Nick Schmidt was the North's only winner.
Richmeyer and the North's Nick Mayer halved the No. 1 duel, and Karlie Kremer of the South and Jacob Hergert of the North halved their match at No. 8.
Basler isn't the only South player who's gotten the golf bug lately.
Reeves, 15, grew up as an all-baseball, all-the-time guy. He tinkered here and there with other sports. But golf, basketball and everything else were just things to fill the time between baseball games and practices.
"I played (baseball) summer and fall," he said.
Golf may have won over Reeves last spring. Splitting time between the St. Pius J.V. baseball and golf teams as a freshman, he had more success on the links than on the diamond. After winning the Jefferson County Conference Tournament title in the J.V. Division, he made plans to focus on golf this summer. The extra effort he put into his game paid off in a South tournament win June 30 at Cottonwood GC and a 4-and-3 victory in his match with Michael Guthrie Jr., in Friday's match play.
This summer's success has Reeves planning on pouring more time into polishing his golf game.
"I'll be hitting golf balls all year ‘round," he said. "I'll be in my backyard hitting off a mat into a net."
Collier knows about nets -- basketball nets. A 6-2 shooting guard at Jefferson -- the Blue Jays will play a varsity schedule for the first time this winter -- Collier spent most of his summer working on his jump shot. But while he devoted a lot of time to hoops, he always made time for golf, too.
Asked to pick between basketball and golf, the 17-year-old Collier said, "It'll always be a tie between the two."
Jefferson High's administration already knows of Collier's feelings for golf. The school does not have a golf team, but Collier has been trying to drum up interest.
"I would love to have a school team," he said. "I'm trying to get it."
Basler has good news for Collier: A school team is nice ... but not an absolute necessity.
Basler was officially part of both the golf and baseball teams -- football and basketball, too -- at St. Pius, but scheduling conflicts were brutal. "I only played (golf) two or three times," he said.
He even missed the conference tournament. "We had senior exams," he explained.
Not playing much during the spring was a minor speed bump for Basler. His summer scores and JCJG success were good enough to spark scholarship interest from McKendree University's golf coach.
"Based on what I've been telling them, they're interested," Basler said.
Catching the eye of McKendree's golf program is no small deal. The Bearcats, who had six players post scores in the 60s or 70s last year, won the 11-team American Midwest Conference/Dakota Athletic Conference tournament and qualified for the NAIA championships last spring. Five seniors from the 2010-11 roster are graduating.
A year ago, Basler wouldn't have guessed college golf was within reach. "I was all set on St. Louis U. for school," he said.
Basler was hoping to mail the McKendree coach a package of impressive scorecards from the spring season, but between baseball, which had first call on his time, and rainy spring schedule, there wasn't much to report.
"I would like to play full time for both of them, but it's just not possible," Basler said.
Things will be different when he reports to McKendree in a couple weeks. Basler will not be playing football, basketball or even baseball. Instead he will take a swing at golf.
Seriously.
JCJG RYDER CUP RESULTS
SOUTH 12, NORTH 4
No. 1 –
Nick Mayer, N, and Joseph Richmeyer II, S, halved.
No. 2 –
No. 3 –
No. 4 –
No. 5 –
No. 6 –
No. 7 –
No. 8 –
Jacob Herget, N, and Karlie Kremer, S, halved. Tyler Schnurbusch, S, def. Brooke Stochl, N, 2 and 1. Avery Moser, S, def. Chase Richardet, N, 3 and 2.Jordan Collier, S, def. Brandon Woolard, N, 3 and 2. Kelly Reeves, S, def. Michael Guthrie, N, 4 and 3. Will Basler, S, def. Brett Knese, N, 7 and 6. Nick Schmitt, N, def. Nick Estopare, S, 3 and 2 (three holes up with two to play).
