SPRINGFIELD, Mo. • Mitch Rutledge made Rivercut Golf Club's front nine his own personal playground in the Class 2 state tournament Monday.
Rutledge, of Whitfield School, shot a 3-under 33 on the first nine holes. The fast start provided cushion for some struggles on the back nine and was good enough to give him a 74 and the lead after the first of two rounds.
"The holes are pretty straight forward," Rutledge said. "If you put yourself in good position off the tee, you will get some pars and birdies."
Rutledge birdied holes 3, 4 and 5, but bogeyed No. 10 and double-bogeyed 13 and 18. He had some bad luck on 13, where his ball hit the cart path and bounced out of bounds.
Still, the performance earned Rutledge a 2-stroke lead over Ryan Richardson (76) of Kennett. Ethan Kirchhofer (77) or Hermann is third, and four are tied at 78.
"There's always going to be pressure," Rutledge said. "I'm just going to go out there, not pay any attention to my competition and just play my game."
Whitfield found itself in second place in the team scores with a 338, behind Kennett's 332. Alexander Sarr (85), Jake Andrews (85), Nate Schmidt (93) and Nick Kunin (107) are Whitfield's other golfers.
Coach Harold Barker called it Whitfield's worst round of the season, but he expects a better showing Tuesday in the final round.
"I told the kids that sometimes the true test of their character is how they respond to adversity," Barker said. "They know they could have played better golf today and they could have shown more composure."
If there is a silver lining for Whitfield, it is that it performed poorly last year on the first day, then came back strong and won the team title.
"We know what it takes mentally and physically," Barker said. "It's about executing our shots."
Other top area finishers include Trevor Cronin (79) of Barat, and Matthew Niewald (80) and Justin Wrozier (82) of Lutheran St. Charles.
