Park Hill’s Baker Fredal is one of five golfers in Platte County who advanced to state after finishing high enough in the Class 5 District 4 Tournament at Tiffany Greens Golf Course on May 9.
When teeing off at districts with a chance to qualify for state, five golfers in Platte County didn’t let May 9 be the last time they compete at the high school level in 2022.
The Pirates competed in the Class 4 District 4 Tournament at Drumm Farm Golf Course, but they weren’t the only team in Platte County who competed in the postseason for a chance to advance to state. Park Hill and Park Hill South competed in the Class 5 District 4 Tournament at Tiffany Greens Golf Course, as all three teams had at least one state qualifier.
Park Hill South had three golfers finish the day high enough to advance: Jack McNearney, Keegan Feder and Evan Jones. McNearney was the Panthers’ top finisher with 84 strokes, good for 10th place.
Feder was right behind his teammate, finishing in 12th place with 85 strokes, and Jones ended the day with 88 strokes to punch a ticket to state. Drew Hurley missed the cut when he had 91 strokes, while Luke Nichols finished with 94 strokes.
The top two teams in each district make it out, and Park Hill South was the best team not to qualify. Rockhurst won with 324 strokes, followed by Liberty North with 344 and Park Hill South was in third place with 360 strokes; Park Hill ended in seventh place with 373 total strokes.
Baker Fredal is the only Trojan who qualified for state, finishing in seventh place, when the Park Hill golfer finished with 82 strokes. Gavin Schaag was two strokes away from the last state qualifier when he ended with 90 strokes in 25th place.
Platte County only had one golfer move on, Parker Amos, who was seven strokes over par. Amos has never been to state before, but will have a chance after finishing in third place with 79 strokes.
“The team did a great job overall today; we gave it a good run, but came up short on a few holes,” Platte County head golf coach Trevor Short said. “Parker Amos punched his ticket to the State Championships for the first time in his high school career, which was a little redemption from last year’s tournament.”
Platte County finished in sixth place as a team with 79 strokes and the second best Pirate on the day was 22nd place Carson Childers, who finished with 93 strokes. Jackson Gabbert tied for 25th place, Dylan Mitchell ended in 34th place and Jake Kingery took 38th place.
“Childers and Gabbert both held on strong throughout the day, but a few shots here and there managed to keep them from advancing. Kingery and Mitchell also played well for their first district tournament ever, but it just wasn’t quite good enough to advance,” Short said.
Feder, McNearney, Jones, Fredal and Amos will make the trek to Meadow Lake Acres in New Bloomfield, Missouri, for the final golf match of the spring season. The Class 4 State Golf Championships will be on May 16 and 17.