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Tigers capture first WCC golf crown
Led by its core senior trio, the Nevada Tigers claimed the West Central Conference golf championship Thursday at Nevada’s Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course.
Nevada concluded play with a team score of 305, as Sedalia Smith-Cotton placed runner-up 18 strokes back of the Tigers.
This is Nevada’s first conference golf championship since joining the WCC at the beginning of the 2014-15 school year.
In his final prep-career outing at Frank E. Peters, Tigers’ senior Jacob Hammontree fired a 1-under-par 71 en route to co-championship honors.
On his final hole, Smith-Cotton’s Jackson Kempton drained an 8-foot putt to move into a first-place tie with Hammontree, who at the time was the clubhouse leader.
Both Hammontree and Kempton shot identical front and back-nine rounds of 35 and 36 respectively on the rain-soaked course.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Hammontree said of the conference crown. “We’ve been working towards this for four years. And it feels great to be the (individual) conference champion and to know that I’m the best in the conference this year.”
Nevada High golf coach Brian Leonard indicated that in conference tournaments, a tiebreaker does not come into play in order to determine first place.
“Any time you shoot 71 you should be patted on the back for that,” Leonard said of the co-champions.
Meanwhile, the Tigers netted three other top 10 finishes, including senior John Quitno, who finished in third-place with a 2-over-par 74; fellow senior Patrick Ferry, who placed fifth at 7-over-par 79; while sophomore Bronson Smith slotted into seventh at 9-over 81.
“A lot of (high school) coaches look at –– how many scores do I have over 80?” Leonard said. “This year I’ve been lucky enough to say, ‘how many scores do I have under 80?’”
Leonard continued: “Jacob came out and did his thing. He had about a four-foot putt on the last hole to stay at 1-under par, and he made it.”
Leonard said his squad appears to be peaking at the right time.
“If we can get our top four clicking on the same day for the next three tournaments –– we’ve got a chance to win the state tournament,” said the 13th-year NHS coach. “We need to concentrate finishing rounds without having any big numbers on our cards.”
In the midst of its most successful three-year run in program history, Leonard said it was important that Nevada’s senior golfers added a conference crown to the NHS trophy case.
“A lot of people don’t take much stock in a conference championship, but it’s still a championship,” Leonard noted. “This, at least for me has boosted my spirits headed into the district tournament next week. It’s been a while since we’ve last won a district title.”
Quitno echoed Leonard’s sentiments, that it’s been a special three years for Nevada golf.
“It’s nice to finally get that conference championship, we’ll get a banner hung at the high school,” he said. “It was good to beat Warrensburg (who finished in last place). They beat us the past three years.”
Quitno added that he’s rounding into form with postseason play looming.
“My driving wasn’t very good early in the season, but it was a lot better today,” he said. “I just need to keep working on that, especially since Sedalia (site of the Class 3 state tournament) is a tight course.”
Team scores
• Nevada, 305; Smith-Cotton, 323; St. Pius X, 325; Archbishop O’Hara, 361; Clinton, 387; Warrensburg, 381.
Up next
The Class 3 District 7 tournament, set for Tuesday at the Mules National Golf Club in Warrensburg.