Dillon earns third consecutive state medal

Louisburg’s Calvin Dillon won his third straight state medal last week during the Class 4A state golf tournament in Dodge City. Dillon finished 11th overall with an 80.

DODGE CITY – It was a state golf
tournament to remember for Calvin Dillon and some of those memories weren’t
always the best ones.

Dillon and the Louisburg golf team traveled to Mariah Hills Golf Course last week in Dodge City to take part in the Class 4A meet that was delayed for more than a week due to inclement weather. If that wasn’t bad enough, it wasn’t even the same course the Wildcats were originally scheduled to play on.

The Class 4A tournament was scheduled to be held in Winfield, but due to the torrential rains, the course had to be moved to a different site. So all the preparation for the Winfield course went out the window and the Wildcats quickly had to learn about their new landing spot.

“It was very chaotic waiting for
KSHSAA to announce where and when we were going to play,” Dillon said. “It was
frustrating because we were supposed to ‘leave’ for the tournament a couple
times and didn’t actually leave for about a week.”

As hectic as the experience was,
there were still plenty of good memories to be had. For Dillon, that meant
garnering his third consecutive state medal.

The Louisburg junior carded an 80
on the Mariah Hills course last Wednesday to finish 11^th overall in
the individual standings.

“It feels good to earn another state medal,” Dillon said. “It was a little disappointing because the round didn’t go well, but I had to stick in there and grind to finish in the top 15.”

Dillon was in the top 10 for most of the tournament, but had a double bogey on his last hole to move him out of the top 10 and into 11^th. He had one birdie on the day, but Dillon also had six bogeys and two doubles as he tried to maneuver through Mariah Hills on what was a blustery day in Western Kansas.

“Mariah Hills is a links style
course and it played a little long because it was so windy there,” Dillon said.
“With the course being as open as it was, the wind was a big factor.”

The rest of the Louisburg team also had its struggles with the course, but the three other Wildcat golfers were able to experience state for the first time.

Junior Drake Varns finished 34^th
overall as he carded an 88 to finish second on the Louisburg team. Juniors Ryan
Haight (103) and Colin Cook (125) were 73^rd and 82^nd,
respectively. Senior Noah Hill and junior Garrett Rolofson were not able to
participate in the tournament due to previous engagements.

“It was great having the guys there,” Dillon said. “We all got some great experience and hopefully we will be back next year.”

The high school season may be
over, but for Dillon, his golf season is just heating up. He is scheduled to
play in tournaments throughout the summer as he prepares for his senior year
and for his collegiate future.

“I have a rigorous summer schedule
planned out,” Dillon said. “The state tournament gives me a lot of motivation
to practice harder and get better for summer tournaments as well as next high
school season.”