Ark Valley News - Hornet golfers show improvement with seventh-place finish at Auburn

Hornet golfers show improvement with seventh-place finish at Auburn
By David Dinell
Last Updated: April 30, 2015

The Valley Center High School boys' golf team got off to a rough start this year, with high scores and finishes at the back of the pack.

Coach Mike McCormick promised hard work and lots of practice — and it has paid off with progress.

The latest demonstration of that was a seventh-place finish out of 13 teams April 27 at Auburn Hills Golf Course in a tournament hosted by Maize South. Valley Center's Logan Burks finished seventh overall out of 92 golfers with a 79.

"I thought he played very well in brutal conditions," McCormick said. "It was very cold and windy. He still left three to four strokes out there with some missed easy putts, but good to see him start to get into rhythm."

Other Hornets had a more difficult time.

Jacob Yochum had a 90 and Reed Pierce recorded a 93.

"They really struggled," McCormick said, "leaving approach irons short with the winds and therefore were playing bogey golf instead of making pars. They also missed some short putts as well."

McCormick said he was pleased with the second half of the team, Joey Sears, Collin Jensen and Riley Johnson.

While each shot a 103 they have all shown steady improvement, he said.

"I want them all to be in the low 90s and they are getting there slowly," he said. "Riley actually left 10 to 13 strokes on the course with putting. Needless to say, we will be working hard on putting this week."

Due to prediction of impending storms, the team's April 24 match with Wichita Collegiate at Cherry Oaks Golf Course was cancelled.

Junior varsity — Joey Sears and Corbin Alderson led the JV Hornet squad, each notching scores of 51 at the Valley Center Invitational April 23 at Sand Creek Station Golf Course in Newton. The event was won by Maize High School with a 190. Valley Center recorded a 204 team score, coming in fourth out of six schools.

Sears and Alderson missed placing in the top eight by only three strokes. Coach Jon Graham said there were no excuses not to have done better.

"The guys realized how many strokes they left out on the course," Graham said. "All the guys agreed that better course management would have saved between five and 10 strokes on their total final round scores."

Other Hornets in the event were Devin Fix and Riley Johnson, who both had a 55, and Caleb Issacs, who rounded out the team effort with a 58.

The team's overall strategy needs to improve when it comes to playing each hole, Graham said.

Players also need to understand, he said, that currently, golf that is one more than par is not that bad for junior varsity golfers. Four scores of 45 will usually place, if not win, most junior varsity nine-hole tournaments, he added.

Graham gave kudos to Sand Creek and its maintenance staff.

"The course was in fantastic shape," he said.