SMITHVILLE, Mo. — Platte County’s Chase Beamer sat nervously awaiting the results to be announced.
The senior carded a 17-over 89 in Class 3 District 8 play Monday, May 4 on the Posse Course at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex. He needed to hear the cut line, knowing it was his score that would determine if the Pirates would compete as a team next week at the Class 3 Sectional 4 tournament, scheduled for Hoot’s Hollow Golf Course in Harrisonville, Mo.
Beamer ended up as the fourth player from Platte County to qualify for the next round of the postseason, allowing the Pirates to compete as a team at sectionals despite not earning one of the two automatic berths.
“It felt really good,” Beamer said. “It was a lot of stress relieved. All the pressure and everything is done. Senior year, I wanted to move on.”
Pembroke Hill ran away with the team championship with a team 294 after all five golfers scored under 80. Savannah shot a 331 to take the second automatic qualifying slot for next week’s sectional round with Smithville third at 332.
Platte County finished five strokes back of Savannah with a 336 team total but still kept alive hopes for qualifying for state as a team for the second time in program history.
“We could have played better,” Platte County coach Trevor Short said. “The end result is you hear all the time is, ‘Survive and move on.’ As long as we take four to sectionals and we can play as a team, we still have an opportunity to go to state as a team even though we only have four guys. I’m just proud of all the guys and what they’ve done this year. It’s a stressful situation.”
Platte County junior Matt Madill led the Pirates with a 7-over 79, earning all-district honors and a chance to make his second trip to the Class 3 Missouri State Golf Championships to be held at Silo Ridge Golf Club in Bolivar, Mo. on May 18 and 19. He finished in a tie for 85th at state last year — one of three Pirates to qualify after just missing a team berth with four sectional qualifiers.
“It’s a great feeling,” Madill said, “especially with four players going on and we can possibly make a run a state again. The nerves are going away the further we get. We are all kind of playing off of each other and working as a team.”
Platte County missed the second automatic team qualifying mark by eight strokes last season with the same four golfers earning a second try at the feat this year.
Adam Muehlebach (83) and Nick Bartelli (85) also earned all-district honors after finishing in the top 15. Beamer’s 89 tied him for 22nd and gave him one of the last three individual spots, which go to the top 15 players not from the automatic qualifiers.
Beamer and Bartelli will also seek a second straight berth, while Muehlebach missed the individual qualifying mark by three strokes in 2014. Beamer placed 66th at state, the best finish for the Pirates last season.
“The four that are going have gone on to the sectional tournament before,” Short said. “They have the experience. They know what to expect. We’re going to play a course we haven’t played before. I’ve played it as a coach a few times and have some background knowledge of the course. It’s not very different from (Shiloh Springs). I think it will play into the way we play golf.”
Class 4 District 8
Tanner Owen won the first tournament of his career Monday, May 4 in St. Joseph and nearly helped Park Hill South to one of two automatic qualifying spots for next week’s Class 4 Sectional 4 tournament.
A University of Nebraska commit, Owen shot a 1-over 72 on the narrow layout of Moila Country Club to beat Liberty’s Collin Schmidt by three strokes for medalist honors. He moves on with a chance to become a three-time state qualifier as a junior.
Liberty topped the team standings with a 313, while St. Joseph Central was second with a 325. Park Hill South finished third with a 331 but will compete as a team in the Sectional 4 tournament, scheduled for Monday, May 11 at Adams Pointe Golf Course in Lee’s Summit, Mo., after qualifying four individuals. Dillon Murray placed 10th with a 12-over 83, while Noah Pennell finished in a three-way tie for 12th with Park Hill’s lone qualifiers — Jordan Lashbrook and Kris Snodgrass.
Jake Carpenter of Park Hill South took one of the last individual spots, which go to the top 15 not from the two qualifying schools, with a 19-over 90.
Park Hill finished sixth in the team standings with a 384.
The top two teams in Sectional 4 play receive a spot in the Class 4 Missouri State Golf Championships. The automatic qualifying teams bring all five players, while any school that qualifies four or five individuals but not the team can also compete for the team spots.