OCS wins loaded tournament
CHA’S Goodman bests Saints’ Dowell for individual crown
COLBY CAMPBELL hits a shot during his round Monday in the Kingfisher Tournament. The junior shot a 72 in a round that included 16 pars. [Photos by Russell Stitt/www.stitt.smugmug.com]
KINGFISHER GOLFER Logun Burnham watches his putt during Monday’s Kingfisher High School Large School Invitational. Burnham shot an 82 to help the Jackets finish at 290, which was good for fourth place in the team standings. [Photos by Russell Stitt/www.stitt.smugmug.com]
KINGFISHER GOLFER Caleb Cameron watches his putt during Monday’s Kingfisher High School Large School Invitational. Cameron shot a 75 to help the Jackets finish at 290, which was good for fourth place in the team standings. [Photos by Russell Stitt/www.stitt.smugmug.com]
Three reigning state champs were among the 18 teams battling it out Monday for the Kingfisher High School Boys Large School Invitational Golf Tournament title.
In the end, it was the defending 3A king Oklahoma Christian School who went home with the crown.
The Saints shot a 270 using the Maxwell format to hold off runner-up Heritage Hall, last year’s 4A champ, by five strokes.
Guthrie, the defending 5A champion, was third at 277 on a near-perfect day for golf that featured sunshine, temperatures that crept into the 80s and very little wind.
The golfers responded.
“There was wonderful and stellar play from many great players,” said KHS head coach Chris Combs, whose own team was fourth with a 290.
Nine different golfers shot under-par and it took two playoff holes for the individual champ to be crowned.
Drew Goodman of Christian Heritage Academy sank a birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat Jaxon Dowell of OCS.
Both players shot 5-under-par 65s in their rounds and missed birdie putts on their first playoff hole, which was also No. 18.
It was a small dose of revenge for Goodman, who was out-dueled by Dowell in last year’s race for the 3A individual title. Goodman settled for runner-up then as Dowell won by three strokes.
Guthrie’s Luke Morgan was one of three golfers to shoot a 67 as he was joined by Mount Saint Mary’s Joey Lewis and Heritage Hall’s Matthew Smith.
Morgan, who was third in last year’s 5A tournament, earned third Monday on a scorecard playoff. Lewis was fourth and Smith had to settle for fifth.
Kingfisher awards trophies to the top-five individuals and top-three teams.
Kingfisher’s Peyton Burns and Heritage Hall’s William McDonald fired 68s while Brody Claborn of Bethany and Craig Sanders of Crossings Christian each shot a 69.
McDonald was the runner-up in last year’s 4A state tournament.
He’s a future teammate of KHS alumnus Mason Overstreet at the University of Arkansas.
Dowell and Goodman are both headed to the University of Oklahoma while Morgan is being recruited by a number of Division I schools.
“The weather was great, which made the day ripe for some low scores,” Combs said. “That combined with the great talent we had on hand and it didn’t disappoint. There was some great golf out there.”
Crossings Christian finished fifth in the team standings with a 298 while Heritage Hall’s JV team was one stroke behind in sixth.
Whereas a traditional scoring format counts the four lowest rounds toward the team score, the Maxwell format counts the four lowest scores on each hole.
Had the traditional format been used, Heritage Hall would have won the team title with a 279 while OCS would have shot 283, Guthrie a 286 and KHS a
295.
Team Standings
OCS 270 Heritage Hall 275 Guthrie 277 Kingfisher 290 Crossings Christian 298 Heritage Hall JV 299 Bethany 304 Piedmont 306 Mount St. Mary 307 Christian Heritage 308 Marlow 331 Casady 333 Chisholm 349 Newcastle 353 Bridge Creek 363 Marlow JV 379 Perry 383 Woodward 442
Top Individuals - Drew Goodman, CHA, 65; Jaxon Dowell, OCS, 65; Luke Morgan, Guthrie, 67; Joey Lewis, MSM, 67; Matthew Smith, Heritage Hall, 67; William McDonald, Heritage Hall, 68; Peyton Burns, Kingfisher, 68; Brody Claborn, Bethany, 69; Craig Sanders, Crossings Christian, 69