Wildcats get over hump to win Louisburg Invite

By Andy Brown
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Updated: April 28, 2016

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg senior T.J. Svoboda watches his tee shot from No. 17 at Metcalf Ridge Golf Course on Monday during the Louisburg Invitational. Svoboda was one of three Wildcats to medal and Louisburg won the team title with a 332.

All season long, the Louisburg High School golf team had first place in its reach only to see another team win by just a couple strokes.

Not Monday.

The Wildcats defended their home course during the Louisburg Invitational as they captured first place with a 332, two strokes ahead of second place Paola at Metcalf Ridge Golf Course. Louisburg had finished in second place in every tournament this season until now.

“It is a big deal to defend at your home golf course and show that you know the course well,” Louisburg senior T.J. Svoboda said. “It is a very humbling experience as a team because we have been coming up just short the last couple tournaments so to take first place is nice. It will look nice hanging up on the wall.”

Individually, Louisburg also had three golfers who placed in the top 10. Senior Hogan Welch, junior Ty Martin and Svoboda all garnered individual medals. De Soto’s Daniel Lee won the individual title with a 71.

Welch had one of his best rounds of the season as he shot a 79 to finish fifth overall. His best hole of the day came on No. 13 when shot an Eagle on the par-5 hole.

The Louisburg senior hit a drive 280 yards off the tee, then hit his 3-wood just to the left of the green where he chipped in.

“I felt I shot pretty good,” Welch said. “There were a couple bad holes that hurt my score, but I was able to birdie my final hole so I can’t complain. I had an eagle on No. 13 which was great. I was just able to hit a nice flop shot that rolled about 10 feet and went in. It was a nice surprise.”

Martin shot an 81 to finish sixth overall and was second on the Wildcat team. The Louisburg junior was having a strong outing as he shot a 39 on the front nine holes, but ran into some problems late in his round.

He finished with a quadruple bogey on No. 16 that set him back, but responded with a par on his final hole to end on a good note.

Junior Nick Welch watches as his putt races toward the hold Monday during the Louisburg Invitational.

“I did really well up until I hit No. 16,” Martin said. “I kind of blew up a little bit there. I started off with a birdie on my first hole and show well on the front nine. I could have had like a 36 on the back nine if I would have just parred out.

“Still I thought I did pretty well and I was happy we won on our home course. You know all the breaks on the greens and you know all the yardages so that really helps a lot.”

As for Svoboda, he had one of his better rounds of the year as well as was one stroke behind Martin with an 82 and medaled seventh.

“Starting off early, I had a triple bogey on No. 8, but I started to turn around a little bit when I birdied No. 10 and put my second shot within a couple feet of the hole,” Svoboda said. “I was able to par No. 11 and was able to shoot a solid round coming out of a slump. It is really nice and enjoy playing golf for once.”

Louisburg also got a solid round from junior Nick Welch, who was fourth on the team, but finished with a 90 and helped the Wildcats get their team title. He finished three spots out of a medal in 13^th overall.

Sophomore Justin Sievert shot a 96 and senior Anders Vance carded a 97 to round out the Wildcat team.

“Ty Martin has played great this year, allowing our second and third spots to be where they were last year,” Louisburg coach Brian Burns said. “Our fourth scorer, either Nick or Anders, have also helped us win second all year. Nick has improved by about 10 strokes this year overall.

“T.J. and Hogan have been scoring well, but are disappointed because they know they can do better. I told them not to be so hard on themselves because averaging in the 80s is great. If T.J. and Hogan could get rid of a couple of bad holes, we would not lose much, but I guess all golfers say that.”