Golfers from four area programs represented their respective programs in conference championships, with each program earning an all-conference medal.
Platte County and Park Hill led the way with runner-up team finishes. Park Hill South also earned an all-conference medal, while North Platte had its first-ever conference medalist.
Pirates fall just shy of conference title
Platte County’s girls golf team came agonizingly close to winning a share of the 2026 Greater KC White Division championship, but fell one stroke short at Country Creek Golf Course’s Hoots Hollow in Pleasant Hill.
The Pirates shot 437 on the day, a single stroke behind Grain Valley’s championship score of 436.
Platte County was led by a pair of all-conference honorees in junior Ainsley Habel and sophomore Naomi Loehner. Habel tied for fourth with a pair of pars to finish 30-over as she finished five strokes from the individual title, while Loehner also shot a pair of pars and finished 32-over to earn her second all-conference medal.
Grain Valley was led by sophomore Amelia Andreas, who shared the individual title with Truman junior Mackenzie Woods. Andreas hit four pars to finish 24-over after 18 holes.
Holland Porschen also impressed for Platte County, posting the best finish of her freshman season, using 112 shots to narrowly miss all-conference honors by two strokes. The Pirates’ team was rounded out with top-20 scores from senior Lila Sedlacek (17th; 117) and junior Finnley Dougan (18th; 119).
Focus for Platte County now shifts to the Class 3 District 4 Championship, also at Hoot’s Hollow, scheduled for Oct. 12. Qualifiers out of districts advance to the Class 3 State Championships, slated for Oct. 19-20 at Meadow Lake Acres Country Club in New Bloomfield.
Goodlet earns North Platte’s first All-KCI medal
As North Platte’s inaugural season of girls golf winds toward its conclusion, senior Emily Goodlet became the program’s first-ever all-conference medalist.
Goodlet finished ninth of 48 at the first-ever KCI Conference Championships, held on Oct. 2 at Cameron Veterans Memorial Golf Course in Cameron. The conference now has enough girls golf programs to have a conference tournament.
Goodlet impressed with the highest placement she had all season, previously finishing as high as 10th on Sept. 22 at Hidden Valley Golf Course in Lawson. Her ninth-place medal, which tied East buchanan’s Kayleen Atha, came after leading the Panthers with a score of 112.
Highlights of Goodlet’s all-conference round included bogeys on holes three, five, and 14, finishing 41-over. She missed eighth place by a single stroke and was nine strokes back from a top-five medal.
North Platte finished fifth as a team in 524 shots. Goodlet was followed by senior Taylor Sipes (24th; 129), senior Annabell DeBord (33rd; 139) and junior Kaitlyn Comer (38th; 144).
Lawson eased to the conference title, shooting a team score of 385. The Cardinals swept the top four individual spots, with sophomore Elena Balmori Caballo winning the individual title with a 91.
North Platte returns to Cameron Veterans Memorial Golf Course on Oct. 8 for the Class 1 District 4 championships. North Platte hopes to be represented at the Class 1 State Championships in Smithville, which requires a top-13 finish at districts for non-team-qualifying golfers.
Trojans finish second, Panthers third at conference
Park Hill earned a runner-up finish at the Greater KC Red Division conference championship, held Oct. 5 at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville.
The area’s top player was Park Hill South senior Tyler Murphy, who finished fourth overall with a score of 95. She had two pars to finish 23-over.
South finished third as a team with a team score of 423. Senior Allie Toohig earned all-conference honorable mention after finishing 10th overall in 106 shots, scoring a birdie on the third hole.
Park Hill’s top performer was junior Justice Robinson, who shot 97 for a fifth-place medal. Seniors Jillian Theys and Kate McDonald tied for seventh in 101 shots.
Liberty senior Kourtney Bowman earned the individual championship after concluding 18 holes in 75 shots. She scored just five bogeys, while hitting a pair of eagles.
The district tournament will be played Oct. 7 at Hodge Park Golf Course.