SPRINGFIELD, Mo. • The Westminster boys golf team is in unfamiliar territory at the Class 3 state tournament at Silo Ridge in Bolivar.
After steamrolling the competition last season for the school's first state title, Westminster found itself in third place after the first of two rounds in the two-day tournament. Pembroke Hill is in first place with a 325, followed by Warrensburg (328), Westminster (331), Cape Notre Dame (332) and Logan-Rogersville (337).
"I think we would've liked to play better, but that is state," Westminster coach Brian Burkey said. "There are five teams that are right there."
Defending individual champion Kevin VandeKamp of Westminster is in the mix for a second title. His 78 is good for third place, behind Jacob Fair (76) of Monette and Michael Huber (77) of Helias. Six are tied with VandeKamp at 78, including Borgia's Alex Buschman.
VandeKamp almost shot a hole in one on the 162-yard par-3 No. 2 and tapped in for birdie. He also birdied Nos. 3 and 5, the latter of which with a holed putt from off the green. Those last two birdies sandwiched a double-bogey on No. 4.
"It was up and down to start with," VandeKamp said. "I was just trying to find my groove."
"He's right there," Burkey said. "He struggled a little bit on the back nine, but he grinded it out and played well. In typical Kevin fashion, it's a big event and he's right up there in the mix."
Ryan Haxel (81), Matthew Brugner (83), Schaeffer Bell (89) and Peter Sippel (90) are Westminster's other golfers. Burkey said a better second round for Bell and Sippel is the key to making up the 6-stroke deficit, but he doesn't expect ultra-low scoring.
"People typically don't go very low at Silo Ridge," Burkey said. "It's a tough course. The greens are slick and the pins are in tough positions."
Westminster had a similar opening round at the tournament last year but had the lead after the 18 holes. The Wildcats came back strong the second day, fueled in part by VandeKamp.
"This is a completely different team," VandeKamp said. "We weren't expecting to come in and sweep like last year. We just wanted to be close, and we accomplished that."
The action for Westminster didn't end Monday at Silo Ridge. Westminster's tradition is to head to a local putt-putt course on the first night of the state tournament.
"It just loosens guys up," Burkey said.
Other area players near the lead are Mason Meiners (81) of Priory, Parker Goldman (82) of MICDS, William Marquart (83) of Borgia and Ethan Werkmeister (84) of Lutheran South.
