Tigers Zach Braucher (left) and Tyler Gast (above) turned in top-10 scores but NHS finished fourth in the Southwest Conference golf tournament at Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course in Nevada Tuesday. Carthage won the team title by one shot. [Click to enlarge]

Nevada Daily Mail

NEVADA, Mo. -- Zak Tucker left everyone in the dust.

On a soggy day that saw the Southwest Conference team golf title decided by a single stroke, the Neosho sophomore made the individual event anticlimactic.

Tucker shot a 3-under-par 69 at Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course, playing from the blue tees and skunking a talented field.

Opposing coaches were left speechless. "That's a heck of a round," and "Wow!" could be heard from opposing players.

The seemingly unaffected teenager acted as if it happened every day.

"It wasn't bad," Tucker said choosing to talk about the course instead of his play. "It was wet in places.

"The greens were slower than usual, but you get used to them after a while."

Tucker beat Carthage's Cameron Richardson and Webb City's Seve Smith by five strokes for medallist honors.

The magnificent round included six birdies and three bogeys. The bogeys were on holes 1, 9 and 15. Each came via three-putts.

Tucker rebounded to birdie 2, 3, 8, 13, 14, and 17.

It was the best round of the season for the young golfer who qualified for state as a freshman in 2006.

The 69 came one day after Tucker had qualified for state again during Neosho's district tournament Monday.

Nevada sophomore Tyler Gast turned in the Tigers' best round with a 78. Gast placed sixth in the individual competition, one stroke short of an all-conference selection.

Andrew Maier of Webb City (76) and Ethan Giett of Carthage (77) rounded out the top five, which earn all-Southwest Conference honors.

Carthage won the team title, beating Webb City by one shot, 311-312.

Neosho placed third with a 323, while Nevada shot 338 to finish fourth.

"That's a good round for us, it really is," Nevada head coach Brian Leonard said.

Webb City and Carthage each had three players break 80. The difference in the team competition came down to the fourth-best scores for each team. Carthage's Trevor Freeman shot 82, while Webb City's Jamison Metcalf was at 83.

Nevada's second-best score was an 82 turned in by Zach Braucher, which tied him for 10th. David Cavener placed 16th individually with an 87, while Brandon Davis shot 91.

Sam Moore, who struggled with a 58 on the front nine moments after learning his younger sister had been in a car accident, finished stronger with a 47 on the back.

His sister was not injured in the wreck.

McDonald County finished fifth in the five-team field, shooting 405. The Mustangs had only one player break 90 (Zach McNeely's 89), and only one other came in under 100.

The Tigers' next tournament is districts in Carthage Thursday. The top team in the district field, and the next top 10 individuals qualify for the state tournament.

"Maybe we can get this out of our system and we can go down and get a couple qualified," Leonard said.

There are 10 teams in Class 3, District 6. Carthage, Webb City and Carl Junction will be considered the team favorites. Cassville, Seneca, Monett, McDonald County, Aurora, Republic and Nevada are the other schools competing.

Individual Scores:

Team Scores:

Car -- 311

WC -- 312

Neo -- 323

Nevada -- 338

MC -- 405