BV West’s Yonke wins 6A regional golf tourney in playoff

Yep, the reigning Kansas 6A state golf champion is ready for his title defense.

Blue Valley West senior Curtis Yonke won the 6A regional golf tournament Monday at Tomahawk Hills Golf Course on the second playoff hole.

Yonke shot a 4-over 74 and was tied with Blue Valley junior Michael Fischer after 18 holes. Yonke hit a beautiful 7-iron tee shot to within 5 or 6 feet of the pin on the 170-yard, uphill second hole during the playoff.

He birdied the hole and has won his last three tournaments.

“It definitely brings in a lot of confidence,” Yonke said of his recent run. “After you win one, you don’t know if you can do it again. … Once you win three (straight), you say, ‘Why not four?’ ”

To stretch that run to four in a row would mean winning the Kansas 6A state tournament again, next Tuesday at Shawnee Country Club in Topeka. He won last year in a three-way playoff.

The top three teams and next five lowest individual scorers out of the eight-team field Monday advanced to the state tournament.

Blue Valley won with a 308, while SM East and Blue Valley North qualified at 315.

Fischer led the Tigers, and he couldn’t fault himself for the way his playoff with Yonke ended.

“Curtis hit a great shot,” Fischer said. “It doesn’t feel too bad to lose on a birdie.”

Fischer was joined in the top 10 by teammates Will Kerdolff (fifth, 76) and Austin Johnson (eighth, 78). Connor Hickey rounded out the Tigers’ team score with an 80.

Will Snyder led SM East with a third-place finish, winning a playoff over BV North’s Harry Higgs after both shot 75s in regulation. Higgs and Jeffrey Lee (ninth, 79) led BV North.

Other individual state qualifiers along with Yonke were Blue Valley Northwest’s Jim Chang and Alex Boyd, SM West’s Stephen Dowell, Blue Valley West’s Robby Hughey and SM South’s Pat Lawrence.

6A at LawrenceThe last time Olathe Northwest’s boys played a round at Alvamar, the Ravens were silent on the ride home after tying for fourth in the Sunflower League following an uninspired round at the public course.

Coach Mike Grove expected a much more boisterous return trip Monday. Olathe Northwest returned to Lawrence for the regional playoffs on the private country-club course, a tighter and more challenging layout, and overcame gusty conditions in winning a Kansas 6A regional championship.

“We talked about staying mentally tough and how every shot counted,” Grove said. “Everyone was going to have a hole or two where there’s a big number because of the wind. We just had to make sure to rebound from that.”

Only three players shot better than 80, including Ravens freshman Matt Green, who shot a 77. Green officially was third after a playoff against SM Northwest’s Jackson Foth.

Wes Kleinsorge was fifth, and Sean Connolly won a playoff for sixth for Olathe Northwest, which won its only previous regional championship in 2005.

The Ravens edged SM Northwest by 6 shots, but the Cougars and host Lawrence also qualified teams for state. The Lions’ Joe Noller had the day’s best round at 76.

“We set a goal to be top three at the regional, so here we are; we’re runner-up,” SM Northwest coach Jim Bamburg said. “We thought we had a shot at winning it, but we’re satisfied to be going to state as a team.”

The Cougars’ second-best round came from an unlikely person, No. 6 golfer Ryan McCarthy, who shot an 83.

Both Olathe Northwest and SM Northwest believe they have top-five potential at the 6A state meet, which will be played May 25 at Shawnee Country Club in Topeka.

Olathe East’s Greg Fitzgerald and Alex Forristal, Olathe North’s Cody Bonebrake and Olathe South’s Rustin Dowd qualified individually for the state tournament along with Free State’s Parker Liebl and Seth McCauley.

submitted by RYAN YOUNG - 2009-05-18 23:20:01

Comments - leave comment