Posted on Tue, May. 13, 2008

SPRINGFIELD | Golfers typically aren’t happy when rain and lightning hamper a round of golf, but for the Kearney team, a storm may have been the key it needed to win the school’s first state golf title.

The Bulldogs sat through a 30-minute storm delay Tuesday morning at Rivercut Golf Course during the final round of the Missouri Class 3 state tournament. As the storm passed, the golfers got rid of some nerves.

“To be real honest, the break we took probably helped us more than anything,” Kearney coach Mike Fallein said. “We struggled to start the day. We weren’t doing terrible, but we definitely weren’t doing nearly as well as we did the day before. Every group was just so tense to start.”

Once the golfers returned to the course around 11:15, things started looking up for the Bulldogs.

Junior Robert Neumann shot a 1-under 35 on the final nine holes, leading Kearney to a 5-stroke victory over defending Class 3 champion Priory.

Neumann was one of three Kearney golfers finishing in the top 15. Neumann was third with a 36-hole score of 152 on the par-72 course. Eric Holm finished in a tie for seventh with a score of 155, and Ryan Zech was in a tie for 10th with a 156.

Kearney was the only school with three golfers in the top 15. It also became the first public school to win a Class 3 state golf title since Excelsior Springs in 2003.

“I don’t think many people expected us to do this,” Holm said.

Kansas City area schools took three of the four team trophies.

Pembroke Hill was third, and Excelsior Springs was fourth.

Class 2

Lawson’s Jared King and Hunter Lewis both had strong showings at the Class 2 tournament at Deer Lake Golf Course in Springfield.

King finished third with an overall score of 148. Lewis shot a 73 on Tuesday, giving him a sixth-place finish.

Class 1

Lee’s Summit Christian finished second as a team in the Class 1 tournament at Silo Ridge in Bolivar.

To reach Cole Young, send e-mail to ceyoung@kcstar.com