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Local golfers provide insights for amateur competitors

Don’t let the scenic, lakeside view and inviting fairways fool you. Paradise Pointe can prove perilous for just about anyone.

Smithville boys coach Trevor Mosby has played the Posse and Outlaw courses countless times over the years and knows the complexities of each one all too well.

His win in the season-opening event went a long way toward making that a possibility, Zech said.

As the Kearney golfers put up score after score on the final day of the MSHSAA Class 3 Boys Golf Championships, things seemed like they had returned to normal.

After a rough first day that saw them in last place, the Bulldogs’ team score of 314 was more like it.

“Obviously we didn’t play well the first day, and I said the old adage, you can’t win state on the first day, but you can shoot yourself out of it,” coach Mike Fallein said. “That is what we did. I do not think we were going to win it — I don’t think we could have shot that score — but we definitely could have been one of the top four teams.

Consistent play put Kearney junior Ryan Zech in the winner’s circle at Windyke Country Club in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday, June 3. Three rounds of 1-under-par 70s gave Zech a six-shot win in the first event on the PGA Junior Series schedule.

“I got with Mike Winter who is my swing coach, and we kind of did some different things with my swing,” Zech said. “I didn’t really know what to expect from that. I thought it might be more of a week to see where I am at with my swing, but I hit the ball really well. I was disappointed with my putting. I didn’t make a lot of birdie putts, but since I hit the ball so well I gave myself a lot of chances.

“I was also able to give myself a lot of two-putt pars which will never hurt you at all. The course we played was really long and narrow.”

A second day effort of 314 proved what Kearney’s boys golf team was really made of on their way to a sixth place finish. They finished with a team score of 645 on Tuesday, May 18.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs posted a team-worst 331 after the first day and found themselves starring up at their competition at the MSHSAA Class 3 Boys Golf Championships at Island Green Golf Club in Republic.

“The kids did well today,” coach Mike Fallein said. “You can’t win on the first day, but you can dig yourself a hole. We would have been in contention for a top four finish if we had played well on the first day. We just put ourselves too far back.”

For the past two years, the Kearney golf team has had nothing but success at the MSHSAA Class 3 Boys Golf Championships.

Two years ago, the Bulldogs walked away with the team state championship and three golfers in the top 10. Last year the Bulldogs were the team runner-up, but junior Ryan Zech was the individual state champion, buoyed by his first round score of 66.

When Kearney tees off at Island Green Golf Club in Republic on Monday, May 17, and Tuesday, May 18, the team will no doubt be among the favorites once more. Zech will also be a favorite to repeat as individual state champion.

Kearney junior Ryan Zech knew he was on the right track at the conference meet April 26, despite the unusually high score he finish with.

He proved that to the rest of the Class 3 District 8 field Monday, May 3, when he carded a 3-under-par 68 at Shiloh Springs Golf Course in Platte City to take medalist honors for the second time in three years.

The scary part? Multiple people — including Zech himself — said he left strokes on the course that could have put him at a 6-under par 65.

Even though they were in Iowa, it kind of felt like home Saturday, May 1, for most of the athletes on Kearney’s boys golf team. Winds whipped around at a consistent clip of 30 miles per hour and gusted into the 40s, as Kearney finished second at the Harvester Invitational in Ballard, Iowa.

The Bulldogs finished with a team score of 324 and put two golfers in the top ten. Junior Ryan Zech shot an even-par 72 to take medalist honors, and senior Kyle Smith finished with a 79 to place seventh.

“Overall as a team, I don’t think we played as well as we could have, and to get second in that field at that great of golf course was probably one of the most satisfying days of the year if not the most,” Zech said. “It gave us some things we needed to work on also.”

There will be only one golf tournament bigger than the two Kearney will compete in Saturday, May 1, and Monday, May 3 — the Class 3 state tournament.

Kearney will head north for the second straight year to Ballard, Iowa, to compete at the nationally-recognized The Harvester Golf Club. Kearney finished fifth out of nine squads in its initial foray last season. Junior Ryan Zech tied for second individually with an even-par 72.

One thing is for sure — the team should be a little more familiar with the surroundings this time.

Smith quiet leader for Bulldog golfers

For three years now, Kyle Smith has been a member of the varsity golf squad at Kearney. With golfers before him like Erik Holm and Robert Neumann and even No. 1 golfer Ryan Zech right now, it has been easy to miss Smith.