Regional victory is first in high school career for SM East golfer
Shawnee Mission East High School sophomore Thomas Luger doesn’t mind poor weather conditions when he plays golf.
In fact, he thrives in them.
Playing in constant rain with a strong wind and temperatures in the lower 50s on Monday, Luger earned the first victory of his high school career in a Kansas Class 6A regional tournament at Brookridge Country Club.
“You just have to embrace the conditions. You know it’s going to be terrible to play in, but it’s terrible for everybody,” Luger said. “It makes winning a little more sweet.”
Luger shot a 1-over par 72, noting consistent play marked the key to his victory in the challenging conditions.
“You have to keep everything in front of you and not have a huge number on any hole,” he said. “I only had three bogeys today, and that was big. It’s awesome to win. I’ve only played in regionals once before, so it’s pretty cool. This is where the big boys play.”
Blue Valley North won the team title with a score of 310, three strokes ahead of both SM East and SM Northwest. Josh Pederson (75), Ryan Bender (78), Jack Lee (78) and Nick Kagy (79) marked the scoring golfers for Blue Valley North.
“I have to hand it to my kids for gutting it out today. If you ever wanted to know the definition of mental toughness, try to shoot 75 on a day like (Monday),” BV North coach Pat Cowan said. “To shoot 310 with extremely difficult conditions and against the competition that was here, we’re very fortunate to win. SM East and SM Northwest are two of the best three teams in the state and we’re tickled to win this regional.”
SM East claimed the second-place plaque, due to its fifth golfer having a better score, but SM Northwest also qualified for state as a team as the third-place team finisher.
SM Northwest senior Blake Allen defeated Pederson and teammate Christian Ghilardi in a playoff for second place in the individual standings after all three finished with a score of 75.
“I’ll absolutely take (shooting 75) in this weather,” Allen said. “I got off to a rough start, but after the first three holes it was everything I could ask for. I kind of got lucky to win the playoff. I shot par and they both got bogey, but I hit some good shots.”
Shawnee Mission South senior Jake Mankin shot 82 and advances to the state tournament as one of the top five golfers not on a qualifying team.
This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Regional victory is first in high school career for SM East golfer."