Park Hill South poses for a photo with the second-place plaque of the Class 5 District 4 Match at Adams Pointe Golf Club on May 6.
SMITHVILLE – Out of the 11 teams that competed in the Class 4 District 4 Boys’ Golf Match, Platte County finished in fourth place at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex on May 6.
Platte County ended with 366 strokes, four more than Warrensburg. Smithville won a district title with 319, ahead of runner-up Kearney’s 347.
At the same time around 45 minutes away, Park Hill and Park Hill South competed in the Class 5 District 4 Match at Adams Pointe Golf Club. The Panthers advance to state with a second place finish with 305 strokes – three more than district champion Rockhurst – and Park Hill ended in fourth place with 319 strokes.
In the Class 4 District 4, Braden Hendee and Brayden Renno were all-district golfers. Hendee finished in sixth place with 84 strokes and Renno tied for seventh place with one more stroke.
Joshua Knickman tied for 18th place with 91 strokes to become the third state bound Pirate. Evan Sedlacek rounded out the Pirates’ postseason with a tie for 41st place with 106 strokes.
“Three out of five are going to state for the first time in their young careers,” Platte County boys’ golf coach Trevor Short said. “They have put a lot of work into the offseason and season to prepare and it paid off big. This week we will focus on Dalhousie Golf Club, the site for the 2024 Class 4 State Championships in Cape Girardeau.”
In the Class 5 District 4, Park Hill South’s Matthew Parker became a district champion. He had 73 strokes, three less than Keegan Feder who tied for fifth place.
Park Hill South senior Drew Hurley and Park Hill sophomore Zachary Cato tied for ninth place with 77 strokes. Alejandro Cardenas tied for 14 place with 78 strokes for the Trojans.
Panthers Drew Kobayashi and Clayton Wichman tied for 18th and 22nd places, respectively. Kobayashi had 79 strokes and Wichman had 80 strokes.
The last three for Park Hill were spread out. Ethan Howell tied for 22nd place with 80, Gavin Schaag tied for 36th place with 84 strokes and Gage Dorrell tied for 54th place with 94 strokes.
Ahead of districts, Platte County took second place at conference, which was at Hoots Hollow Golf Course on April 29. Knickman, Hendee and Josh Gentilia earned all-conference.
“We had a very good day today. We had some confidence going into the match after some good practice the week before and it showed in the results,” Short said after conference.