SPRINGFIELD, Mo. • Although late Parkway South boys golf coach Mark Wade was not at the Class 4 state tournament at Twin Oaks Country Club, his influence was evident throughout Day 1 on Monday.
Led by a blistering round of 70 by Kyle Weldon, South surged to the team lead with a four-person score of 311. Teammate David Arth shot a 78 and was followed by Jack Darland (81), Jacob Frericks (82) and Wesley Allard (95).
"Coach Wade set us up for success," South interim coach Jason Koehrer said. "He coached this team up, and we have great leaders with (Weldon) and the other guys."
Wade, who died of an apparent heart attack April 30, was fond of telling his players to "grind it out" when faced with adversity. Koehrer said the team grinded it out Monday after several members had slow starts.
Weldon, who started his round on the back nine, jumped out of the blocks with a birdie on No. 10, a 527-yard par 5. He then saved par on his second hole, the 212-yard par 3 No. 11, with a 35-foot putt that was picking up speed on a downhill slope as it went into the hole.
"After I made that putt on the second hole, I was really pumped up and ready to go," Weldon said. "I knew it was going to be a pretty good day."
Weldon's luck continued on the 17th hole, a 510-yard par 4. He was looking at a difficult par attempt after missing the green with his second shot but was able to chip in for birdie from 25 feet.
"I was really concerned about the shot before I hit it," Weldon said. "I thought I was looking at a good par saver and maybe even a bogey, but I just hit it perfectly. It landed right where I wanted it to, and it started rolling right on line."
Aside from dealing with the loss of Wade, Arth also was dealing with the death of his grandmother last week. Her funeral took place during his round Monday.
"I marked my ball with both of their initials," Arth said. "It helped because I was playing for my grandma and Mr. Wade today."
Meanwhile, Weldon is in a familiar place. He also led the state tournament last year after the first day, only to finish in second place.
"Not only last year but other tournaments have taught me how to sleep on the lead," Weldon said. "I just have to come out tomorrow, play how I do and don't change anything."
Weldon has a 4-stroke lead over the field. He will be in the final group Tuesday along with Ted Jones (74) of Eureka, Carr Vernon (74) of Poplar Bluff and Mike Wootten (75) of Francis Howell.
Other area finishers in the running include DeSmet's Scott Hamel (76), Howell's Cody Stoll (77) and Ladue's Seth Smith (79).
Wootten and Stoll led Howell to a second-place tie in the team standings with Rock Bridge, at 320. Howell coach Carl Wayne was happy with his team's performance.
"With the caliber of teams here, I thought if we could be in the top five and within striking distance, we'd be in good shape, so second is amazing," Wayne said.
Other Howell golfers included Alex Stear (83), Ryan Staggemeier (85) and TJ Lyons (91).
Name game: Ozark's roster catches the eye. Ozark's No. 1 golfer is Ben Hogan (no relation to the golf legend), and its No. 2 is Justin Timberlake.
