Platte County golfers Logan Hessemeyer and Blake Minyard enter the spring knowing they have more than one season left to play together. Last week, the Pirates’ 1-2 duo was part of a special signing ceremony celebrating their decision to attend Ottawa (Kansas) University on golf scholarships.
Hessemeyer and Minyard took very different paths to college golf.
A fourth-year starter, Hessemeyer burst onto the scene as a freshman with a Class 3 District 8 championship, helping Platte County finish second as a team. He has been third at districts each of the past two years, and all three seasons have wound up with Hessemeyer in the Class 3 State Golf Championships thanks to top-10 finishes at Sectional 4.
“It’s gone by really fast,” Hessemeyer said.
Hessemeyer continues to chase his all-state distinction, but he’s slowly moved up each year to this point from tied for 85th as a freshman, tied for 70th as a sophomore and tied for 40th a year ago.
“I felt a little disappointed at the end of the year last year at state,” he said. “My end goal was all-state — not the ending I wanted.”
Minyard didn’t even join the golf team until last year. Previously, he played baseball for Platte County and had been dedicated to that sport for many years before feeling a bit of burnout.
An employee at Shiloh Springs Golf Course, Minyard turned work into a sporting pursuit and quickly became the No. 2 for coach Trevor Short behind Hessemeyer in 2019. Minyard tied for ninth at District 8 and then tied for 18th at Sectional 4 to take one of the final qualifying spots for state.
“Blake is my first signing as a Head Golf Coach so it’s definitely a special one,” Ottawa coach Phil McClintock said. “Blake has a strong love for the game which will allow his game to grow further at Ottawa. I’m very excited for him to join the Ottawa golf family.”
Minyard now has his sights set on improving on last year’s 85th-place finish that was disappointing but very impressive considering the path he took.
“I’ve worked at the golf course ever since I could drive so I started to pick (golf) up, — got to play for free,” Minyard said. “I thought it would be a good time to switch, and it worked out pretty good for me. My goal was to make varsity coming from varsity baseball, kind of had to have that mentality. Making the team, I never would’ve thought I’d be going to state or playing golf in college after playing baseball my whole life.”
Fagan finds Park for e-sports
Platte County senior Kevin Fagan became the first in school history to sign a scholarship offer for e-sports — the burgeoning video game component of an increasing number of athletic departments. He will attend Park University in Parkville where the Pirates have quickly built a respected program despite the school’s NAIA status.
Reid Sutter, a 2019 Platte County graduate, currently plays for Park and helped introduce Fagan to the opportunity.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for me to get out of college debt free and be able to play video games the whole time I’m there,” Fagan said.
Fagan ended this past fall as a starting offensive guard on Platte County’s Class 4 state runnerup football team, which finished 11-4. He had taken two years off before returning to be a part of the Pirates’ historic run.
In addition, Fagan is a standout track and field athlete, and he has qualified for Class 4 Sectional 4 in the shot put each of the past two years. He will finish up his track career this season looking for a state bid before devoting his attention to e-sports.