Jackson golf team repeats at Notre Dame Invitational

At Monday's Notre Dame Invitational at wind-whipped Bent Creek Golf Course in Jackson, the race for the team championship was just as heated as the race for individual medalist.

Jackson, led by Eli Pike's 3-over 75 and Hunter Asher's 4-over 76, claimed the team title with a 319, one stroke better than Notre Dame and Poplar Bluff, to claim its second straight Notre Dame Invitational trophy.

"We had some boys that shot some low scores -- you've got to have that," said Jackson golf coach Zack Walton. "But you've also got to have kids that can come in and shoot right at 80, and we had that today."

Caleb Likens added an 83 and Tommy Tran an 85 for the Indians.

"[Tran] was struggling a little bit on the front side and turned that all the way around on the back side, shot 2-over on the back side and got us an 85. And Caleb shot a 41-42. So those kids did real well as well."

Jackson junior Eli Pike watches his drive on the second hole during the Notre Dame Invitational on Monday at Bent Creek Golf Course in Jackson. Pike tied for medalist with a 75. (Fred Lynch)

Pike, a junior, led a three-way tie for medalist honors as Notre Dame's Jack Litzelfelner and Poplar Bluff's Ryan McVey also carded 75s.

"The wind started picking up and conditions were a little tough out there," Pike said. "I'm really pleased with it."

Pike played in the day's second threesome off the No. 1 tee. A birdie on No. 8, when he chipped in from about 80 feet, keyed his run to the top.

"That was a big momentum-booster," Pike said, adding that he had missed a couple short putts."After that I started getting a little more confident in those short putts."

Putting proved critical as the winds wreaked havoc with the players both off the tees and on approach shots to the green.

Central’s Luke Kinder places his ball for a putt during the Notre Dame Invitational.

"All of the holes, the [wind] was coming into our face," Pike said. "That just made it real tough. Had to club up a lot."

Litzelfelner agreed the winds made attacking the course difficult.

"I think I could have shot a couple better, but I think I'll take a 75 into the wind today," the Notre Dame sophomore, the defending Class 3 state champion, said.

Litzelfelner faced a 6-foot putt for birdie on the final hole with a chance to win medalist honors outright, but he pushed it past the hole.

"I kind of mis-read it," he said. "I knew what it was for."

He also came up short on makable birdie putts on Nos. 11 and 12. But he saved a key par on the par-3 15th when, after hitting his tee shot long, he pitched to within about six feet and sank the putt.

"I knew that [McVey] was pretty close to me, so I knew I had to get that one up and down and make that putt. That was a big hole. Probably the biggest hole for me."

McVey, a senior, played steady golf throughout the day. The only hole that tripped him up was the par-4 16th. He came to the hole at even-par, but he got into trouble off the tee, found water and wound up with a triple-bogey.

"I should not have hit a 3-wood there, I should have hit the driver," McVey said. "I just looked up and didn't hit it very good, and just tried to get out with what I could get."

McVey had two birdies and one bogey on the front nine, and was playing the most consistent golf of anyone in the 15-team field.

"I started making some pars on the back nine, and I said, 'Just keep doing that,'" McVey said. "Then I got to 16 and it kind of fell apart. But on 17 and 18, I came back and played real well."

Notre Dame has yet to win the team title in its own tournament, but Bulldogs coach Jerry Grim was pleased to see so many solid scores on such a windy day.

"That's three pretty good teams right there," Grim said about the close race for the title. "I'll tell you what, when you get scores like we got today, with the conditions we had today, that's pretty good golf."

Notre Dame Invitational

Team scores

1. Jackson 319, 2. Poplar Bluff 320, 3. Notre Dame 320, 4. Central 345, 5. Farmington 357, 6. Dexter 363, 7. Sikeston 365, 8. Nixa 367, 9. Park Hills 377, 10. Ste. Genevieve 397, 11. Kelly 415, 12. St. Vincent 418, 13. Perryville 425, 14. Kennett 454, 15. Saxony Lutheran 502.

Top Individuals

1. (tie) Jack Litzelfelner (ND) 75, Eli Pike (J) 75, Ryan McVey (PB) 75, 4. Hunter Asher (J) 76, 5. Hunt Nagy (PB) 78, 6. (tie) Travis Simmons (C) 79, Ethan Stevens (D) 79, Jonathan Bell (ND) 79, Nick Wollard (PB) 79, 10. (tie) Aaron Beck (K) 80, Gabe Wheeler (S) 80.

Local teams

(top four scores used for team score)

Jackson (319) -- Eli Pike 75, Hunter Asher 76, Caleb Likens 83, Tommy Tran 85, Adam Way 88.

Notre Dame (320) -- Jack Litzelfelner 75, Jonathan Bell 79, Brady Dixon 81, Nick Cantoni 85, Jon Renner 102.

Central (345) -- Travis Simmons 79, Kobe Franklin 81, Luke Kinder 89, Diana Kanchev 96, Christian Retler 110.

Kelly (415) -- Derrick Garner 90, Dylan Rucker 106, Jacob Riley 108, Drew Keene 111, Josh Roberts 127.

St. Vincent (418) -- Brett McDavid 88, Brandon Wagner 90, Logan Comfort 99, Justin Halter 100, Peyton Bradley 104.

Perryville (425) -- Brett Schnurbusch 90, Garrett Zoellner 103, Conner Stark 113, Dalton Bueller 119, Chris Ponder 122.

Saxony Lutheran (502) -- Karsten Short 107, Kieran Griffin 126, Mikayla Schuessler 132, Joe Rubach 137, Anton Rhodes 138.