Park Hill’s returners should inspire confidence that another breakthrough could be near.
After a surprising team berth in Class 4 Sectional 4 a year ago, the Trojans have three of the four to reach that round back and four of the five who competed at District 8. Kris Snodgrass ended up being the lone qualifier for the Class 4 Missouri State Golf Championships, and despite battling an injury in the preseason, he expects big things.
“I feel like once I overcome that the season will be pretty strong,” said Snodgrass, a senior. “I think we’re going to do good. I have confidence in our team that we’re going to do good this year.”
Park Hill junior Davin Dorrell and sophomore Ryan Graves also competed at sectionals along with departed senior Tim Cation. The four sectional qualifiers allowed the Trojans, who tied for fourth in the District 8 standings, to compete as a team.
The postseason achievement came as a welcome surprise after an inconsistent season of results.
“We’ve got quite a bit of experience returning so that’s good,” Park Hill coach Zach Dorrell said. “We’ll try to be more consistent in our team’s scores and not fluctuate so much.”
At sectionals, Park Hill ended up seventh out of nine teams, but Snodgrass finished in a six-way tie for 13th to advance on to state. His second straight trip to state ended with an 86th-place showing after being 80th in Class 4 as a sophomore.
Zach Dorrell also sees juniors Randen Plattner and Dylan Hughes as contributors. Plattner was the No. 5 golfer for the Trojans at districts last season.