Rockhurst golf coach Mike O&#8217;Leary freely admits he didn&#8217;t like the change in the rule that qualifies just one team and 10 individuals out of districts for the state tournament. Before the change, the top two teams and five individuals advanced out of the district tournament to state.</p><p>O&#8217;Leary is at least a bit more of a fan of the new rule today. Because of the change, his Hawklets still have a shot at winning a state team title when the Missouri Class 4 state tournament tees off at 8 Monday morning at Island Green Golf Course in Republic.</p><p>The Hawklets finished third in the team running at the District 7 tournament last week at Winterstone in Independence. But because O&#8217;Leary had four golfers finish within the top 10 individuals not on the winning team, Rockhurst will still be allowed to compete as a team.</p><p>Under the old rules, only the Hawklets&#8217; top finisher, Michael McGee, would have qualified.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re lucky to have the rules as they exist,&#8221; O&#8217;Leary said, &#8220;because now we still have a chance to win state.&#8221;</p><p>Rockhurst knows from its district experience that some of its toughest competition will come from Blue Springs South and Lee&#8217;s Summit West, which finished 1-2 in the team standings.</p><p>Blue Springs South, behind John Sievers&#8217; 5-over-par 77 and 78s from Cody House and Tyler Brown, scored a four-man team total of 316 in winning districts, 6 strokes better than LS North and 8 better than Rock.</p><p>LS North was led by Austin Jarchow, who tied Sievers for medalist honors at 77.</p><p>Park Hill South, which won the Class 4 District 8 tournament with an identical score of 316, also should contend for a top spot. Chris Reinert led the Panthers at districts with a 77 at Liberty Hills, while teammate Brandon Bowman shot 79.</p><p>All teams will be chasing defending champion Priory in Class 3, which tees off Monday morning at Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield. Priory has four players returning who finished among the top 16 at state a year ago.</p><p>Pembroke Hill, which finished runner-up to Priory last year and won its district tournament last week at Adams Pointe, should pose the biggest challenge, and Kearney, which won the District 8 tournament at Liberty Hills and sports one of the top individuals in freshman Ryan Zech, is another team to watch.</p><p>A Richmond sophomore, Blaine Broderick, is a top contender for Class 2 medalist honors, as are Lawson&#8217;s Jared King and Hunter Lewis. That tournament also will start Monday morning at Deer Lake Golf Course in Springfield.</p><p>Joe Kaufman, Preston Karnes and Josh O&#8217;Dell will carry the pride of Orrick in the Class 1 tournament at Silo Ridge Golf and Country Club in Bolivar.