Daviess County’s Grant Broughton was able to qualify individually for the state finals on Monday, while his team finished seventh to fall just short of qualifying.
Owensboro Catholic’s JT Payne and Apollo’s Trevor Cecil competed individually, as they didn’t qualify for the state finals by shooting an 84 (+12) and an 87 (+15) respectively. The Panthers shot a 351(+63) as a team, putting them in seventh place behind Ohio County who shot a 336 (+48) to grab sixth.
Head Coach Lars King said the wind played a massive part in how the team played today, saying that they didn’t have their best round in a course that was much different than in the 2nd Region Championship.
“The wind kicked up,” King said. “The course showed its teeth and it became difficult. We squeaked by in Madisonville and some guys played really really well and had been playing well, but you come out here on a tough golf course where it’s not forgiving like it was in Madisonville and that’s just what happens. It’s golf. Day-to-day, shot-to-shot everything’s different.”
King said that reading a tough course became even tougher with the wind, making it hard to identify how to play with the win in order to best succeed on the day.
“The course and greens dried out,” King said. “The greens and the course got faster. It got firmer and that’s just the nature of it when there’s that many subtle breaks in the course already. Then the wind gets picked up… The indecisiveness is magnified by the fact that the wind kicks up.”
Broughton agreed with King’s notion, saying that with the field facing the windy setting that today’s round made it much tougher in all facets of the game.
“The crazy winds today are just as much of a mental challenge than a physical challenge,” Broughton said. “You have to accept that the entire field is experiencing the same conditions and it genuinely makes golf much harder for everyone when the wind is blowing the way it was today.
Broughton led the way for Daviess County with a 77 (+5), advancing to the state finals for the second year in a row. Dawson Lamb followed close behind with an 82 (+10), while Grayson Powers shot a 92 (+20), Hayden Sapp shot a 100 (+28) and Logan Mewes shot a 102 (+30).
While Broughton didn’t have his sharpest day on the course, he’s able to move on seeing some positives and some things to work on going into State.
“I wasn’t very happy with my round overall,” Broughton said. “I made a lot of mental mistakes that cost me quite a few shots. Even though I missed two or three key putts, I had a lot of confidence in my putter all day, but my irons and wedges are something I definitely need to work on.”
Lamb, Powers and Sapp graduate with this round of golf being their final one as a Panther and King hopes that at the end of the day he’s been able to teach a great group of kids that golf is just a game, while letting them know that he’s enjoyed their countless hours on the golf course together.
“If nothing else, just teach them that life goes on,” King said. “Golf is not the end-all, be-all. It’s a sport. It’s a game and you either love it or you hate it. Some days it’s both. They’re great kids and that’s the bottom line. You wouldn’t do this as an individual if you didn’t enjoy the people you were around, because I’m around those kids more than my own family during golf season a lot of the time. They make it a fun time and make it enjoyable to be out here.”
All in all, King will get to spend a little more time with Broughton, as he returns to state with some lofty goals in mind starting Tuesday, Oct. 6.
“I am very excited that I was able to make it to state again this year,” Broughton said. “And coming off a great finish last year, my goal is to do even better and finish in the top eight.”
