Plainsmen golfers head to state

The Plainsmen golf team is headed to state in Kearney next week following districts in Cambridge on Monday, May 13. 

After finishing their regular season on Friday in Ogallala, the team headed to Cambridge to play in the district competition. 

Crandall Creek

Perkins County was one of 11 teams competing in Ogallala on Friday, and two Plainsmen placed in the top 10 individuals, and the team took sixth overall. 

Junior Jacob Woodmancy placed first with a 76, 37 on the first nine, and 39 on the second. 

Senior Aaron Fay placed seventh individually with a day total of 81. Fay took 40 strokes on the front and 41 on the back. 

As a team, the Plainsmen finished sixth with a 352, falling just 21 strokes behind the first place winners, McCook, who shot a 331.

Also competing at Crandall Creek were Carson Thelander, who shot a 93; Kaden Smith who ended the day with 102; Deitrik Brueggeman shot a 117; and Matthew Aerni who ended the day with a 122.

Team scoring: 1. McCook, 331; 2. Alliance, 342; 3. Scottsbluff, 348; 4. Cozad, 350; 5. Gering, 351; 6. Perkins County, 352; 7. Gothenburg, 355; 8. Hershey, 369; 9. Chadron, 387; 10 Ogallala, 413; 11. Sidney, 457.

Individual scoring: 1. Jacob Woodmancy, Perkins County, 76; 2. Nolan Benjamin, Hershey, 78; 3. Caden Stevenson, Alliance, 78; 4. Trevor Berry, Chadron, 79; 5. Brady Esch, McCook, 79; 6. Gavin Howell, Scottsbluff, 79; 7. Aaron Fay, Perkins County, 81; 8. Paul Cole, Cozad, 82; 9. Crayen Cyza, Alliance, 82; 10. Jake Scherer, Gothenburg, 83.

Cross Creek

The C-5 Boys District competition was held in Cambridge on Monday, May 13.

14 teams came together for friendly competition and a chance at going to state. 

“The District Golf Meet was a brutal test of endurance for all the golfers. The long rough, quick and dry greens made the round very difficult. Some golfers handled it better than others. I thought the perseverance of our team really paid off on the second nine of the day.

“Actually, after the front nine, we were in fourth place: one behind Hershey, two strokes behind Valentine, and five behind Kimball.  Two other teams were within a couple of strokes of us- so it really did come down to the final nine holes,” Coach Troy Kemling said.

Woodmancy finished fifth place, after taking 83 strokes for the day. 

“Jacob learned today that he can score without hitting fairways or greens.  Remarkably, he putted for birdie only three times and hit two fairways during the round. He was able to chip and putt well enough to put up a good score of 83,” Kemling said.

Thelander took seventh individually with a day score of 85.

“It was great to see Carson playing well again. He did so by playing conservatively and keeping the ball in the fairway.  When many other golfers were losing their ball in the tall native grass, Carson played the entire day with the same ball,” the coach stated. 

The Plainsmen team qualified for state with a score of 371, with Woodmancy, Thelander, Fay, Smith and Brueggeman competing.

Kemling acknowledged it really was the whole team effort that landed them in second place. “Aaron struggled early on in his round but kept fighting and put up a respectable back nine. I was proud of his tenacity, even though he was visibly upset during parts of his round. The state meet can be a time for him to rebound and play well. I know he is motivated to do that.

“Kaden and Deitrik played close to their averages for the season. That was huge to have a fourth score that was close to an average amount. Many other teams had a fourth score that was 10-20 strokes more than they were planning to have. That helped to propel us to the second-place finish.”

Team scoring: 1. Kimball, 355; 2. Perkins County, 371; 3. Valentine, 385; 4. Mitchell, 387; 5. Bridgeport, 932; 6. Cambridge, 394; 7. Hershey, 396; 8. Morrill, 422; 9. Gordon-Rushville, 442; 10. Hi-Line, 449.

Individual scoring: 1. Preston Carbaugh, Cambridge, 73; 2. Nolan Benjamin, Hershey, 78; 3.Drake DeMasters, Bridgeport, 79; 4. Dillon Wise, Kimball, 80; 5. Jacob Woodmancy, Perkins County, 83; 6. Karsen Klooz, Chase County, 84; 7. Carson Thelander, Perkins County, 85; 8. Zane Anthony, Kimball, 88; 9. Logan Cate, Valentine, 89; 10. Burke Schneider, Mitchell, 90; T10. Braeden Struempler, Morrill, 90; T10. Izaac Reuter, Kimball, 90.

Next action

Meadowlark Hills Golf Course in Kearney will host the Class C NSAA Golf Championships on May 21-22 with both days having a tee time of 9:30 a.m. CT.