Wildcat golf starts season off right at Paola

Freshman Calvin Dillon watches as his shot lands on the green Monday during the Paola Invitational at Paola Country Club. Dillon led the Wildcats with an 84 and he, along with teammate Ty Martin, earned medals.

PAOLA – The Louisburg High School golf team got its season started a week later than normal Monday when the Wildcats took the Paola Country Club course at the Paola Invitational.

The week before, their first meet at Gardner was postponed, which gave the Wildcats a little more time to iron out the kinks.

The practice seemed to pay off as Louisburg finished runner-up in the team standings at the Paola tournament. The Wildcats recorded a 375 and finished behind champion Kansas City Christian, which tallied a 335 in the seven-team tournament.

“I was surprised that our third and fourth scores got us into second place,” Louisburg coach Brian Burns said. “Some of the schools lost one or a few of their top players that were at this tournament. My third through fourth scores are going to have to drop 5-8 strokes by midseason. That comes with more practice and focus.”

Freshman Calvin Dillon had a good first outing in his first high school tournament. Dillon led the Wildcats as he carded an 84 and finished fourth individually to earn a medal.

Senior Ty Martin was also awarded a medal as he shot an 87 and took sixth overall. Gardner-Edgerton’s Trysten Tovkach won with a 77 and Kansas City Christian’s Parker Allen (78) and Nate Streeter (79) came in second and third, respectively.

Louisburg senior Jake Hill shoots his way out of the sand Monday in Paola.

Dillon and Martin had an opposite start to the tournament. In his first nine holes, Martin shot a 41 and didn’t encounter many problems, while Dillon shot a 44.

However, Dillon shaved four strokes off that pace on the back as he recorded a 40 and Martin tallied a 46.

“Calvin had some jitters on his front nine which is understandable for his first high school tournament,” Burns said. “He recovered on the back nine and I was pleased with his score. Ty played the opposite of Calvin. He had a couple of holes that he struggled with on the back nine and played great on the front. I was pleased with his score also.

“Calvin and Ty are going to be great leaders for us this year and will be able to encourage our other varsity golfers to try to drop those five strokes by midseason.”

Senior Jake Hill and junior Justin Sievert tied for third on the Louisburg team with a 102. Junior Kai Tinich was fourth with a 104 and sophomore Noah Hill carded a 126.

The Wildcats will have busy few days in the upcoming week as they will take part in three tournaments. Louisburg will travel to Fort Scott on Monday, will compete in the Osawatomie Invitational on Tuesday and they travel to Sycamore Ridge Golf Course for the Spring Hill/Frontier League Tournament on Thursday.