Cody Mitchell, Advance golf

Among the handful of high school golfers who qualified from last week's district tournaments for next week's state tournaments in southwest Missouri, only one did it on the strength of that rare, magical golf feat ˜ the hole in one.

Advance senior Cody Mitchell, who was taking his third crack at making the state field after being one of the founding golfers for the school's 2-year-old program, fired a hole in one on the 125-yard, par-3 12th hole at Ste. Genevieve Golf Club on April 30 in the Class 1 District 1 tournament.

The first career ace was huge for Mitchell, who slipped into the state field with one of the last spots among the 10 individuals who qualified.

"I was just on Cloud Nine the whole time from that hole in one," Mitchell said. "I tried to put it out of my head and play the next holes, but it was hard. It kept popping up in my mind. I was grinning the whole day after that."

A golfer for about seven years, Mitchell played his freshman year at Owensville High School before transferring to Advance.

"It feels great because it's eluded me for the past three years," he said.