Park Hill finished seventh place in a mostly bunched top eight while competing in the season-opening Truman Invitational on Monday, March 20.
In a 21-team field, Liberty North (314) topped St. Joseph Central (317) by three strokes for the team title at Drumm Farm Golf Club in Independence, Mo. The distance from the champion to eighth-place Summit Christian was just 28 strokes.
Park Hill finished with a 341 despite being without senior Kris Snodgrass, a two-time Class 4 Missouri State Golf Championships qualifier. The Trojans were one stroke in front of Summit Christian but just 12 back of third-place Rockhurst.
Davin Dorrell led Park Hill, finishing in a five-way tie for 13th with a 9-over 81. However, tiebreakers left him one spot out of the top 15 players, who received medals. Randen Plattner, another returner from the Trojans team that qualified four for Class 4 sectional play a year ago, carded a 14-over 86 and came in tied for 26th.
Snodgrass expects to return from injury at some point in the season.
Park Hill South’s Zach Bischler was just one stroke back of Dorrell for the Panthers’ top showing. Bischler, a sectional qualifier a year ago, was part of a five-way tie for 18th — just one stroke out of the tiebreaker for medalist positions.
Behind Bischler, Park Hill South finished 12th in the final team standings at 390, 23 shots back of Park Hill’s South B squad.
Park Hill South’s next three finishers — Chris Walker (89), Nick Ryan (90) and Jay Threadgill (91) — all competed for the B squad. Panthers coach Tracy Mangels noted before the season an increase in depth across the roster, and the opening tournament seemed to prove his point.