East High Golf, Saturday, May 4, 2024
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| The East High golfers were still smiling after 36 holes in Garden City. |
On Saturday, May 4, the East High Golf team took part in the 6A State Preview Tournament. The one-day tournament would consist of two 18-hole rounds of golf, one each on Garden City's two fabulous courses: Buffalo Dunes, and Southwind Golf & Dining. And fabulous might be an understatement. It could be argued that Garden City possesses two of the finest courses in the entire state, a remarkable feat considering how little rain the area traditionally gets. And while they are in superb condition, the layout and challenge of each course is also top-notch. Last September, when I first received an invitation to participate in this tournament, I immediately knew it was something I wanted our squad to experience.
In addition to the courses, this tournament was really cool because it truly was a STATE preview. Twelve 6A schools participated. Garden City and Dodge City were there, of course, along with two Wichita schools, and Manhattan. The other seven schools were ALL from Johnson County, and the level of golf was off the charts. Of the top twenty overall individual finishers, twelve were from these Johnson County schools. And that didn't even include the 18 golfers that only played the Buffalo Dunes round; all 18 of them shot 88 or better, and three shot even par or better. The golf was REALLY good.
The morning round was held at Buffalo Dunes, site of this season's 6A state tournament. While the course did not disappoint, the cold conditions and relentless southwest Kansas wind proved to be a bit much for our golfers. We then made the short drive to Southwind, ate some overpriced ham sandwiches and chips, and played our afternoon round. Even though no one on our squad had ever played (let alone walked) 36 holes in one day, the majority of them improved their scores from the morning.
The top finisher for East High was (once again) Talen Nasone. Talen's opening round at Buffalo Dunes was a bit disappointing for him, as he shot a 12-over 84. In fact, I have never seen him more dejected than I did as he closed out his round. But I encouraged him to take the new round as an opportunity to reset, and his 4-over 75 at Southwind showed that he did just that. His combined score of 159 tied him for 14th overall.
Anderson Tung is rarely seen without a smile on his face, even when he is laughing at himself for "playing like dump" (his words, not mine). His round at Buffalo Dunes was rough, a 16-over 88. But he is so positive and self-assured, so I wasn't surprised in the least when he shot a 6-over 77 at Southwind. His scores were good enough for T20th.
Despite posting the third-best score on our team, Hagen Shane was the only East High golfer to post a worse score on his second round. He shot a 99 at Buffalo Dunes in the morning, but then really struggled at Southwind, shooting ten shots worse. Hagen finished 46th.
Hagen's "little" brother Kyran improved greatly from the morning to the afternoon. His 118 at Buffalo Dunes left a lot to be desired, but his Southwind round was better by 12 strokes. I was very proud of Kyran and the way he bounced back. His combined score of 224 placed him 49th.
Alec Gatzulis' day can be broken down into two parts: his first nine holes, and then his final 27. Alec has a tendency to start slow, and at a course as challenging as Buffalo Dunes, that leads to an opening nine-hole score of 77(!). But over his final 27 holes, he posted nine-hole scores of 56, 59, and 50(!). That kind of improvement is truly incredible, but it also shows you Alec's makeup. He had every reason to be distraught, but he held it together, figured some things out, and started playing better. Prior to the tournament, all of our guys were a little nervous about playing 36 holes in one day. Alec wasn't nervous...he was terrified. But when I saw him somewhere around hole 28, he said he was having a blast and felt great. On the ride home, he told me it was the best school-related trip he had ever been one. How awesome is that. Alec shot 133 and 109, a 24 shot improvement, and finished 50th.
Most of the day was a struggle for Arri Reilly. Not only did he not play as well as he would've liked, but his afternoon playing partners weren't playing as well as they would've liked either. It was easily the most miserable group I saw all day. When you don't know each other AND each of you is miserable, it's a recipe for, well, misery. Arri shot a 126 in the morning at Buffalo Dunes, then, miraculously, shot a 126 at Southwind. At least he was consistent 😁. Arri finished 51st.
The nature of golf is that no matter how well we play, we always think we could've done better, and we often dwell on missed opportunities or silly mistakes. We often think of the birdie putts we missed, or the errant shot in the water, or any other golfing misfortune you can dream up. On this trip, yes, all of our guys could've played better. But sometimes, it isn't even about golf. When we were preparing to depart Wichita on Friday night, there was a lot of moaning about the long drive ahead of us, and of having to play 36 holes in one day. But I told them, more than once, that this trip was just about making memories. I am hopeful that what they remember are the meals together (four of them), getting to stay overnight four hours from home, and the unbelievable and hilarious conversations that ensue when teenage boys are trapped in a car together for a very long time. And as far as golf is concerned...it would be easy to be sick of it after 36 holes and a less-that-desirable level of play. So where do you think some of our boys headed to after finishing their 36th hole? The driving range. Totally, completely, one hundred percent awesome.
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