The boys high school golf season came to a close Wednesday afternoon at the Bowling Green Country Club. A total of five individuals and the McCracken County Mustangs competed in the final round of the KHSAA boys state golf championship looking to end their seasons on a high note.
For McCracken County Mustangs, the high note came in the form of a third place team finish and a fourth place individual finish for junior Landon Hunt. The junior carded a two-day 1-over-par 145 (74, 71) to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place. Finishing fourth was a big improvement from day one as he say tied for 14th place after Tuesday’s round.
“There were a lot of ups and downs out there, but I was able to keep it together today and made a few putts coming in,” Hunt said. “I had a really good front nine and just kinda kept it together on the back, so I was happy with my round today.”
That front nine consisted of three birdies and two bogies, while the back nine saw two more birdies and just one bogie, a significant improvement from Tuesday as he closed out his round with three straight bogies.
“I think I just had some frustration near the end yesterday,” Hunt said. “I was trying to put it all back there, but knowing it was over, I tried to get it back today and I think I did a good job of that.”
Joining Hunt in team play was Jack Farmery who shot a 5-over-par 149 (76, 73), Dallas Vinson at 13-over-par 157 (81, 76), Brently Gregory shooting 22-over-par 166 (80, 86) and Tanner Kight with a 27-over-par 171 (88, 83).
Finishing third as a team was a big improvement from last season as they came in ninth place last year on the championship stage.
“I’m extremely proud of them,” McCracken County head coach Chris Gregory said. “The improvement that they have made throughout the season mentally, the stuff that they go through when they play this game is impressive. There are still some things that I know they would like to work on, but I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
As a team the Mustangs shot 38-over-par 614 (311, 303) to finish third behind Madison Central at +20 and Trinity at +24 and narrowly edging out Christian Academy of Louisville by one stroke for fourth place.
After their first 18 holes on Tuesday, the Mustangs sat in fifth place and even found themselves further down the list of teams midway through the day before it was all said and done.
“They would have loved to have finished higher, they would have loved to win if they could, but it’s just really cool to see them improve this much from last year to this year,” Gregory said. “It’s two days for a reason. It’s 36 holes of grueling golf at Bowling Green Country Club.
“I can’t say enough about what Landon, Jack and Dallas did, they have kind of been our anchors this year. Putting the two rounds together, especially Dallas, somebody who knew they could play here and really had a game plan this week that allowed him to play his best golf. Landon is just Landon. He’s always going to come out and get you a good number and Jack Farmery is just a grinder.”
The improvement from last season to now also comes with the help of two newcomers in Kight and Gregory who both made their varsity debuts this fall.
“Tanner Kight is somebody who I’ve wanted to play golf every year and he decided to play this year, and Brently, my son, he’s always played golf and play football, so seeing what these two have done in their first year of golf has just been really impressive.”
Joining the Mustangs in Bowling Green was a pair of Paducah Tilghman golfers in Peyton Toon and Evan Hack, Ryan Stokes of Marshall County, Rylan Crouch of Mayfield and Collin Whittington of Caldwell County.
Toon led that field with a 10-over-par 154 (77, 77), Stokes followed with an 11-over-par 155 (78, 77), Crouch also added a +11, 155 (77, 78), Hack shot an 18-over-par 162 (81, 81) with Whittington also shooting +18, 162 (75, 87).
One of the few seniors across of boys First Region golf, Toon ended his high school career on the big stage.
“It’s such a blessing,” Toon said. “This has been my goal all year and it’s my first time making it to state. I knew it was going to me by last ride so I’m glad I made it. It wasn’t the golf that I wanted to play specifically, but I fought hard out there and I got it in the hole in the fewest amount of strokes as I possibly could.”
As one of the few seniors, Toon says his playing days aren’t over with a few colleges in consideration and eyeing his talents for their teams.
The other senior from the First Region field was Caldwell County’s Collin Whittington who made Tiger history by being the first golfer from the high school to make it to the state championship since 2003, a 21 year gap.
It will now be the girls turn as they take on the same course at Bowling Green Country Club on Friday and Saturday with a strong field of First Region individuals in the field.