The new Missouri high school golf playoff round is drawing mixed reviews.
For the first time, boys golf has a sectional round. In the past, the top team and the top 10 individuals who weren't on the winning team would advance directly from districts to state. Now, the top two teams advance from each district, as do the top 15 individuals into a sectional, from which the top two teams and top 12 individuals advance to state. The inaugural sectionals will be played throughout the state Wednesday through Friday.
There are two reasons for the change. First, it brings golf in line with virtually every other sport as far as playoff format. Also, it will cut down the state field in each class by about 30 golfers, reserving space in the top meet for the very best and cutting down round times.
The latter reason is especially true for the state's lower classes, where the dropoff between the elite golfers and the next tier is steeper than in the higher classes.
"You will have 30 less kids, so that's seven less tee times right off the top," Whitfield coach Harold Barker said. "That alone will help the state tournament. Also, it helps the pace of play because some rounds were getting to be unmanageable."
"I think it legitimizes it a little bit," Westminster coach Brian Burkey said. "In the past, if someone has a good 18 at districts then they go to state. Now they have to earn it."
Most of the criticism has come from Class 4 coaches, especially from some of the teams in District 2, which is considered the toughest in the state. That district has to travel to Poplar Bluff on Friday (that sectional was pushed back two days because of heavy rainfall in southern Missouri) to match up with the likes of Jackson and Poplar Bluff, perennial state powers.
With the format change, the state mandated schools can play only in four regular-season tournaments so that no additional class time is missed for sectionals. But the golfers in Class 4 District 2 have to travel on Thursday to make an 8 a.m. tee time in Poplar Bluff on Friday, causing them to miss an extra day of school, anyway. Plus, there are added travel costs to the schools.
But Eureka coach Craig Kennedy said somebody has to travel due to the location of the Class 4 schools, and he expects the Class 4 District 1 teams will have to travel to the St. Louis area next year.
"If I were only a golf coach, I would see it as unjust," Kennedy said. "But I'm a basketball coach, too, and I see situations there such as the Suburban North where they have three or four teams ranked in the state who are in the same district ... Every sport has a powerhouse area, and we just happen to be it in golf."
DeSmet and Francis Howell will headline the area Class 4 sectional. Both coaches don't mind the change, even though both their teams would be heading to state now under the former system.
"We've got to play well," DeSmet coach Frank Hawkey said. "If we play well, we'll be all right. If we play well and two other teams play better, that's how it goes."
"You're going to have to go through them at some point, anyway," Howell coach Carl Wayne said. "It will be a tough task, but you have to earn it."
PARKWAY SOUTH PLAYING WITH HEAVY HEARTS
The Parkway South community was stunned Saturday by the death of golf coach Mark Wade due to an apparent heart attack.
Wade, 59, had just coached the Patriots to their seventh district title in the last 11 years on Wednesday. Assistant coach Jason Koehrer will take over the team for the rest of the season.
Wade's death will be on everybody's mind at the Poplar Bluff sectional, not just his players.
"Mark is probably one of the guys with the greatest amount of integrity that I've ever met," Kennedy said. "We have a lot in common with both of us being math teachers ... Every decision he made was based on what was best for the kids and what's the right thing to do. He was such a genuine and caring individual. He's not the kind of people we're supposed to lose."
