CARTHAGE, Mo. — Led by two golfers who finished in the top six, Carl Junction took runner-up in the team sweepstakes on Monday during the Abbiatti’s BBQ Invitational at the Carthage Municipal Golf Course.
Finishing ahead of four larger schools, Class 3 Logan-Rogersville earned the team title with a composite score of 306 (+22), besting Class 4 Carl Junction by three strokes at 309 (+25).
“It’s a day where we continue to finish second and third,” Carl Junction coach Ryan Jones said. “We’re just not making the right plays at the right time. I know we had a couple kids who didn’t finish like they wanted to in their rounds. We’ll keep working at it and hopefully by the time that it really comes time and you’re playing for hanging banners in the gym that we’ll make plays at the end of the day and see if we can get right.
“When you’re scoring four, you just need to find one extra number. Right now, we’re close. We have five kids right now that are capable of shooting a number. We just need four of them to do it on the same day.”
Carthage placed third at 321 (+37), Joplin fourth at 322 (+38), and Webb City fifth at 324 (+40) with the area rival schools contributing five more golfers to the individual top 10.
“Three of them did great,” Carthage coach James Newman said. “The fourth one kinda had a tough day today. It’s tough to say, challenging to talk about, but the course is playing difficult right now. I would say the greens are rolling really well. There wasn’t a lot of breeze though, but the greens aren’t holding a whole lot whenever you’re chipping. Everything is so quick.”
“Like I always tell the kids, hey, this is preseason stuff,” Joplin coach Jack Pace said. “The big three are coming up: Conference, districts, and state. Just keep practicing to get better. Other than that, we’re just looking for the big three.”
Satterlee’s outstanding round highlights Joplin’s day
For the third consecutive year, the individual champion was decided in a playoff.
Joplin junior Harry Satterlee and Republic sophomore Cason Bekemeier each finished their respective 18 holes with a 1-under par 70.
On their second playoff hole, Satterlee claimed the individual championship when he shot par on the par-4, 456-yard Hole 11, while Bekemeier encountered some trouble behind the green and bogeyed.
Satterlee and Bekemeier each parred the par-5, 509-yard Hole 10 to start their playoff.
“Harry is so consistent,” Pace said. “It looks like he’s throwing darts in there at the green. He’s going to Cincinnati to play for the Bearcats. This is his only junior year. He’s already looking forward to it.
“What’s crazy about him is his short game. He can get up and down all over the course. His short game is phenomenal. Even if he’s not driving well, like at Schifferdecker in the Horton Smith, he shot a 3-over 74 and hit one fairway. It’s his short game that does it for him. He’s just a good athlete, a good player.”
Joplin senior Hobbs Campbell finished in a tie for 14th at 78 (+7), then senior Ian Surbrugg tied for 26th at 86 (+15) and senior Dylan Bozarth tied for 31st at 88 (+17).
“Hobbs signed with KU for track and cross country,” Pace said. “I told him at the beginning of the year that I know you’re going to KU, I said I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t play golf. He said, ‘I want to play golf, I want to finish what I started.’ I said ‘That’s good. YES!”
The Eagles have the Bird Dog Invitational next Monday before the big three of conference, district, and (possibly) state.
“We could always be better team wise,” Pace said. “We’ve got some teams in our conference and our district that are loaded. Nixa, Ozark, I mean Ozark shot a 300 the other day at Ozark. Realistically, between Harry and Hobbs, just play the best you can and hopefully the other three can get better. We’ll play it by ear.”
Spencer, Walker finish top 6 for CJ
Carl Junction sophomore Jack Spencer and junior Tommy Walker finished third and sixth overall Monday, shooting 73 (+2) and 75 (+4) to lead the way for the Bulldogs.
“Jack Spencer and Tommy Walker both played really good rounds,” Jones said. “Jack Spencer has been our anchor and our rock all year. Tommy Walker is really coming on. His last couple rounds, I think he’s gone 80, 77, and 75, so he’s starting to become a good anchor for the golf team.”
Rounding out the Bulldogs’ four scores in the team total Monday were senior Jacob Teeter tied for 18th at 80 (+9) and freshman Austin Baker 20th at 81 (+10).
“We don’t have a whole lot of time,” Jones said. “Golf season is short. We viewed this week as a week where we’re just going to see where we’re at and use the data and the information to figure out how we’re going to practice.
“We’ve got conference coming up soon and districts is very difficult with a lot of talented teams. We wanted to use (Monday) as a starting point for all the postseason events we have. We have some big goals and I think we have the talent to do a couple things, but again it eventually becomes the question ‘Can we get it done.’ We’ll see.”
Trio of golfers leads host Carthage
Carthage senior Max Templeman finished seventh at 76 (+5), senior Britt Coy ninth at 76 (+5), and junior Owen Derryberry tied for 11th at 77 (+6) on their home course.
Colson Brust, a junior, tied for 36th at 92 (+21).
“I’m OK with a little struggle like that at this time because it gives them a taste in their mouth,” Newman said. “Right now, they’re out there (Hole 10) working on it. We’ll be there at the end for conference and district I am confident.
“That’s why it’s tough to talk about it, because they’re going to tell you that they didn’t play very well. I don’t see it as they didn’t play very well, it’s just like growing pains. They’re young. My fourth (Brust) just started last year. He usually shoots 79, 82. He shot 92. My one just started last year, and he shot 76 but he shot even out here yesterday. It depends on the day.”
Monday’s tournament was complete, except for the cleanup, by the middle of the afternoon.
“It went really well on the management side because we didn’t have any rules committee questions, we didn’t have any stroke penalties, we didn’t have any DQ’s,” Newman said. “The field played quickly. They were done in 5 hours and 15 minutes. I felt good about that because there’s so many kids. There were 90 kids, and that shows coaches are working with them on pace of play.”
Abbiatti’s BBQ Invitational
Team scores: Logan-Rogersville 306, Carl Junction 309, Carthage 321, Joplin 322, Webb City 324, Monett 326, Republic 340, Neosho 360, Seneca 368, Lockwood 369, Sarcoxie 373, Aurora 404, Nevada 408, Cassville 428, Carthage JV, Lamar, McDonald County.
Top 10 Finishers
1. Harry Satterlee, Joplin 70 (-1)
2. Cason Bekemeier, Republic 70 (-1)
3. Jack Spencer, Carl Junction 73 (+2)
4. Ben Roche, Logan-Rogersville 74 (+3)
5. Cooper Forth, Webb City 75 (+4)
6. Tommy Walker, Carl Junction 75 (+4)
7. Max Templeman, Carthage 76 (+5)
8. Tyler Davis, Logan-Rogersville 76 (+5)
9. Britt Coy, Carthage 76 (+5)
10. Braxten Cahoon, Webb City 76 (+5)
