SMITHVILLE, Mo. — Platte County’s consistent play continued at the Suburban Conference Blue Division tournament Monday, April 27, but the Pirates weren’t top heavy enough to claim the title.
All five golfers for the Pirates earned all-conference honors, but a 4-under 68 for medalist Pierce Moling of Kearney helped the Bulldogs claim the championship on the Posse Course at Paradise Point Golf Complex. Platte County totaled a 336, nine strokes back of Kearney.
“We did fairly well,” Platte County coach Trevor Short said. “We’re all pretty consistent. We couldn’t quite catch up to a 14-stroke deficit. Kearney has a good player who came in and posted a great score. It’s hard to come back from a deficit like that.”
Platte County’s Nick Baratelli finished third with an 11-over 83, while teammates Adam Muelebach and Matt Madill tied for fourth one stroke behind. All three earned first-team all conference honors, while Chase Beamer tied for sixth with a 14-over 86 to claim second-team distinction and round out the counting scores.
Payton Boekhout grabbed an honorable mention slot with a tie for 14th, although his individual score did not factor in to the team total.
Platte County now turns its attention to the postseason, and the Class 3 District 8 tournament scheduled for Monday, May 4 back at the Posse Course. The Pirates want to finish in the top two to advance to Sectional 4 play with a chance to earn the first berth to the Missouri State Golf Championships in Short’s tenure and second in program history (2000).
“Everyone had a solid round today,” Bartelli said. “I think we’re looking to bring that score down even more next week at districts. It’s fun. We’re kind of competitive against each other. We know how close we can be. It’s fun to come in and say, ‘Where are you at?’ It’s good to come in knowing you have team members that you can trust and pick you back up and all shoot really low.”
Bartelli, one of three seniors in the lineup at conference, carded six pars and one birdie in his round. He had no score worse than a bogey until his final hole — the par-5 No. 17 — where he hit into a hazard and struck a tree before marking a double-bogey seven.
“When you think you are playing it safe, double check yourself,” Bartelli said. “You can still get in some trouble, especially when you are trying to keep (your score) low. Don’t overshoot the last hole.”
Beamer also struggled on No. 17 — his final hole, as well. He lost a ball into the creek that ran down the left side of the fairway and eventually carded a quintuple-bogey to finish just shy of first-team honors.
Bartelli, Beamer and Madill each reached the Class 3 Missouri State Golf Championships as individuals last season while Muehlebach missed the cut by three strokes. Platte County’s four sectional qualifiers were allowed to compete as a team last year, per state rule, but missed out on one of two state spots by just eight strokes, incidentally with a 336.
“On any given day anything can happen,” Short said. “We kind of proved that last year when we came into districts and qualified four. We played really well. Sectional tournament the same thing, we were the long shot I guess you could say and we came close to beating Pembroke Hill in just the sectional tournament.”
Suburban Conference Blue Division
Park Hill South junior Tanner Owen nearly ended his drought of tournament championships at the Suburban Conference Blue Division Tournament on Monday, April, 27 at Drumm Farm Golf Course in Independence, Mo. The University of Nebraska commit carded a 3-over 75 but finished in second place after a scorecard playoff gave the win to Cole Roberts of St. Joseph Central.
Overall, Park Hill South finished third in the five-team tournament just four strokes behind winners Liberty (323) and two strokes back of second-place Central (325). Noah Pennell (fourth, 78), Dillon Murray (10th, 85) and Jake Carpenter (14th, 89) rounded out the Panthers who earned all-conference honors and counted toward the team total of 327.
Park Hill finished a distant fourth (370), and Jordan Lashbrook (11th, 86) and Kris Snodgrass (12th, 87) earned honorable mention all-conference honors.
Platte County 170, Park Hill 193
The Pirates showed off their balance again despite a tough scoring round Thursday, Sept. 23 at Shiloh Springs Golf Course.
Beamer and Boekhout jumped up from the lower part of the order to share medalist honors for Platte County with 4-over 41s. Madill shot a 43 and Jordan Morris a 45 to round out the team total.
The teams sent out eight players, keeping the top four scores, in a rare format change.
“We played OK in some areas and not so great in others,” Platte County coach Trevor Short said. “The team played well enough to put another notch in the win column though. We are kind of like a rollercoaster ride with played scores right now. Each player is having their ups and downs.”