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Nevada golf wins first Big 8 crown
CARTHAGE — Thanks to a big 89, the Big 8 belongs to Nevada High School.
Having a pair of 88s and the conference-best round of 70 doesn’t hurt, either.
“I don’t know how to explain it. Just a shocker. I’m very excited, but still kind of speechless right now,” said longtime NHS head golf coach Brian Leonard, whose team combined for a score of 335 to win its first-ever Big 8 Conference championship Tuesday at the Carthage Golf Course. “I’m very, very pleased to take this trophy home.”
Junior Owen Swearingen, who set the school record for lowest round at this course last week, led the way for the Tigers once again, nearly tying his best mark with a 1-under par 70 to win his first conference title. Battling a stop-and-start wind all day, Swearingen shot eight strokes lower than the next closest competitor.
Twin seniors Lane McNeley and Logan McNeley each shot an 88, just missing all-conference honors by one stroke.
The difference in this one, though, came down to junior Cordell Cox.
“I wanted to shoot at least a 95. That’s what I’ve been wanting to shoot all year,” said Cox, who played the best round of his career and returned to the clubhouse having shot an 89. “I was shooting for a 95. Shot six under. And we won by six under.”
Once the Tigers stopped celebrating Cox’s round, their eyes turned to the scoreboard. As the rest of the scores were posted, it started to sink in that they had a shot at winning this thing.
“It was nerve-racking,” admitted Swearingen, who knew he had clinched the individual championship but was soon able to celebrate with the rest of his team once its six-stroke victory over Logan-Rogersville was official. “I never thought we’d win another tournament as a team, but winning conference is just so big. Pretty special. Pretty cool.”
Cox concurred.
“I was nervous. I was ready for the scores,” he said. “It’s pretty amazing. I was thinking we were going to have a shot at least at second. Getting first just feels, truly, a lot better.”
For anyone wondering how Cox pulled it off, taking more practice swings before every shot is the simple answer. But adding a magical new club to his golf bag isn’t too far from the truth, either.
“We were at practice the other night and I had a Titleist driver someone had given to me about three months ago, and I thought, ‘Well, if you want to try it, you’re welcome to try it,’” said Leonard, who after Tuesday’s round may never see that club again. “I think he started hitting it today, and seems to be playing pretty good with it.”
Of course, no one hit as well on the day, with or without magical golf clubs, as Swearingen.
After opening with three straight pars, Swearingen (who made all-conference his freshman year) bogeyed the par-5 no. 4, only to birdie four of his next seven holes.
Despite the windy conditions, every facet of his game was on-point: he was driving confidently, chipping effectively, and sinking seemingly every putt within 10 feet of the cup like they were tap-ins.
“Eleven was a great birdie because that’s where I kind of messed up last week with a bogey,” Swearingen said. “A birdie there was kind of redemption for me.”
Following a bogey on the par-3 no. 12, he hit an 80-yard wedge shot to within six feet of the pin on the par-5 no. 13 — and sank the birdie putt to improve his score to -3, the same score he ended up with last week at the Sonic Invitational to set the new NHS record.
Swearingen made par on the next four holes before entering the tee box on the par-4 no. 18 with a chance to tie his record-breaking round of 68.
But his driver tee shot sailed left into some trees. After consulting with Leonard, rather than try to navigate through the limbs, he opted to lay up under them and into the fairway, setting up another impressive wedge shot from about 60 yards out that landed within five feet of the pin.
“He just laid himself out in the fairway there, got a good shot on the green,” said Leonard, who watched his no. 1 golfer miss the five-footer, then miss a four-footer, before tapping in for the double bogey and -1 overall score (34 on the front nine, 36 on the back). “He just gave it a little too much juice on that five-footer and ran it by. Eighteen ate Logan’s, Lane’s, and Owen’s lunch today. But they fought through it and they came back and had good scores after that.”
Leonard added that Swearingen was in good spirits after the round — especially once the scores from his teammates started coming in.
“Just not a great putt, but a good score. As a team, it was very special. Cordell’s 89 was huge. He dropped so many shots, and that really saved us,” said Swearingen, whose sights are now set on the Class 3, District 3 tournament May 10 at Bill & Payne Stewart Golf Course in Springfield. “Just trying to go into it with no expectations. See how it goes. Keep plugging along, and it should work out.”
As for the McNeleys, they’re just happy they joined the golf team this year for the first time.
“I’m so excited right now. That’s the best golf we could play, really, and we saved it for this. Cordell, I love it for him. For him to play his best round at conference is just amazing for us. Helped us out real big,” Lane McNeley said. “It’s not really expected. To be able to do it this first year, with Cordell coming up big and Owen doing what he does, it just feels really good. Knowing what we can do now, and then me and Logan — that’s not our best golf — hopefully we can help out Owen a bit and Cordell can get down there again. You never know.”
Logan McNeley agreed.
“It’s exciting to be a part of this. We know the scores we can shoot and probably still didn’t shoot them, but we were able to win the conference championship, so I’m excited. Cordell works hard on his game and he’s worked hard on his swing. For that to pay off in one of our biggest tournaments, it’s sweet to see how he came through,” he said, adding that he and his brother rarely shoot the same score in the same round. “In the summer, we’re usually pretty close. He’ll get me, I’ll get him. I looked over at him in the middle of our round and I gave him a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down, and he said down. To shoot an 88, I guess he came back and found his groove. Hopefully, coming into districts, we can put it all together. See what happens.”
Senior Bryce Eaton rounded out Nevada’s scoring with a 118.