SPRINGFIELD, Mo. • What a difference a day made for the Whitfield golf team in the Class 2 state boys golf tournament at Rivercut on Tuesday.
Whitfield shot 30 strokes better than it had on day one to post a 646, which was good enough for the school's second consecutive team state title. Whitfield's Mitch Rutledge also took the individual title with a 74-71-145, besting the field by eight strokes.
"The kids just really responded," Whitfield coach Harold Barker said. "We talked a lot about mistakes and we weren't proud of the way we played. We wanted to be proud of our performance. The kids responded to the adversity with a lot of class and dignity and today they showed everyone what they are made of."
There was improvement from all five Whitfield golfers. Nate Schmidt went from a 93 on day one, to a 78 on day two. Alexander Sarr went from an 85 to an 80, Jake Andrews from an 86 to a 79, Nick Kunin from a 107 to an 87 and even Rutledge lowered his score from a 74 to a 71.
Maryville finished a distant second at 674.
Rutledge's first five holes were an adventure. He birdied the first, bogeyed the second, tripled the third, birdied the fourth and eagled the fifth. When the dust settled, he was back to even.
"I was going through some things with my swing on those first holes," Rutledge said. "I was kind of nervous."
Rutledge sank a 20-foot putt on No. 5 for his eagle. He settled in after that, shooting a 1-under par the rest of the way.
Rutledge said he was surprised by the margin of victory.
"There were some really good golfers in that field," Rutledge said. "Rivercut is just a tough course. I was able to make some putts on the back nine and have a comfortable three or four holes coming in."
"To be the individual champion and winning by eight strokes is amazing," Barker said. "He was the only kid in the tournament to post a number in red figures, which was his 71 1-under today."
Barat's Trevor Cronin (160) and Grandview's Sam Huskey (161) were the area's only other medalists.
CLASS 3
Westminster finished second in the team standings with a 638, behind Pembroke Hill's 629 at the Class 3 tournament at Silo Ridge in Bolivar.
"We didn't play as well as we would have liked on the first day, but we came back and played great the second day," Westminster coach Brian Burkey said. "It is easier to take (finishing second) when the other team plays well, rather than if we didn't play well. All you can do is congratulate them."
Westminster had improved performances from Peter Sippel (90-79-169), Schaeffer Bell (89-79-168), Ryan Haxel (81-76-157) and Kevin VandeKamp (78-73-151). Matthew Brugner (83-84-167) was consistent.
VandeKamp finished in a five-way tie for second individually with a 151, one stroke behind Kearney's Ryan Zech. VandeKamp was the defending state champ.
"It was neat to see because he kind of came out of nowhere last year and won state," Burkey said. "It's nice to see him come back and show it was no fluke."
Haxel was the only other area medalist at 157.
