Central's Connell, Jackson's Werner earn trips to state golf meet

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A birdie putt on No. 18 gave Central's Corey Connell confidence he had made the cut Friday for the Class 4 state golf tournament.

A missed birdie putt on the same hole left Jackson's Tanner Werner in limbo.

"I knew it would be close," Werner said. "I knew I needed to make that putt on 18, but I didn't.

"There's nothing you can do about it once it's over."

Werner waited outside the clubhouse at Westwood Hills Country Club as the scores were posted inside. With only the top two teams and 15 individual scores advancing, it was a long afternoon before Werner's 82 withstood the cut.

Jackson's Tanner Werner hits a tee shot during Friday's Class 4 sectional tournament in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Meanwhile, Connell completed a 7-over-par 78 with a birdie, just missing an eagle, on the par-5 18th to finish tied for seventh overall.

"If it moves me on, that's all that matters to me," Connell said.

Jackson's Connor Thrower shot 84 and teammate Brett Leimbach carded an 85, while Central's Travis Simmons shot 86.

Parkway South's Kyle Weldon earned co-medalist honors with Eureka's Matt Miklas. Both shot a 2-over-par 73.

Weldon did it without a birdie, starting his round with 12 straight pars, while Miklas sank birdie putts on a pair of par-3 holes to go with 12 pars.

A day after attending the funeral of their coach Mark Wade, who died of a heart attack April 30, the Patriots honored him by qualifying for the state tournament.

Parkway South and Poplar Bluff tied for the top spot, with the Mules winning the tiebreaker by seven strokes, while CBC finished just three shots back.

"Coach Wade talked about being mentally tough," Parkway South coach Jason Koehrer said. "He used the term grind. Any one of these guys, if you asked them, would say coach would want us to grind.

"And they grinded it out today."

That was the case for the entire field as Westwood Hills played tough with fast greens after drying out following an 11-day period that saw more rain than the previous six months.

"The greens were quick," Connell said. "I probably had about five three-putts. Missed a couple of short putts coming in."

Connell's day started with par before three straight bogeys. He was 4-over at the turn following a bogey on the par-4 seventh then picked up consecutive bogeys starting on 11.

"He made some very good shots," Central coach Dick Wadlington said. "He didn't putt the ball very well, but I don't think anybody burned it up on the greens."

Connell played the final four holes even with a bogey on the par-3 16th and a birdie on 18.

"You've got a birdie hole you can make something happen and almost made eagle," Connell said about the 494-yard, par-5 18th.

Werner, who finished tied for second at the 2008 state tournament and tied for 17th last year, was 7-over at the turn before four straight bogeys. But he finished with five straight pars to stay at 11-over and make the cut.

"As fast as they've got these greens and where they've got these hole locations today, you couldn't miss it in the wrong spot," Werner said. "I had several three-putts.

"Couldn't get the putts to go in."

The state tournament will be held May 16 and 17 at Twin Oaks Country Club in Springfield, Mo.

The Patriots will be there, a decade after Parkway South won its only state title under Wade.

The long-time coach was honored in many ways Friday with his players wearing red, white and blue ribbons on their shirts. Fellow coaches wore buttons with his initials, while CBC had "MW" stitched onto their shirts.

"That was pretty special," Weldon said. "We felt like everyone was pulling for us.

"Obviously they probably wanted to get through, but it felt good to have everyone pulling for us."