Jackson manages to swing medalist, second as team second at Saxony Invitational

For a high school golfer, playing that first shot at Dalhousie Golf Club can be fun.

Somewhere around the 100th shot, frustration can set in.

Nearly half the field crossed the century mark Thursday in the first Saxony Lutheran Invitational Tournament, played at the course recently ranked No. 1 in Missouri by Golf Digest and hosted by a school with a first-year golf program.

Even Jackson senior T.J. Smith, who said he virtually lived at the course last summer, was feeling a little frustration setting in. For him, that came well before triple digits, and his familiarity with the golf course paid off.

"I figured that 77 or 78 would win, and it took me only nine holes to be 5-over par," Smith said. "I decided I needed to calm down and stay with it."

Saxony Lutheran's Clay Obergoenner putted on the second hole at Dalhousie Golf Club on Thursday.

Smith played even over the last nine holes to finish at 5-over 77 and capture medalist honors at the inaugural event, billed as the largest high school golf tournament in Southeast Missouri.

Sixteen teams participated, with 15 fielding full squads. Smith finished in front of 77 other golfers, 37 of whom needed 100 or more shots to tour the 6,400-yard track.

With Smith's 77, and the 83s carded by A.J. Balsman and Brian Hill, Jackson finished second in the field. The Indians had a 339 total, nine strokes behind winner North County and in a tie with Farmington. The Indians won the tiebreaker on the fifth scorer -- Trent Weaver's 97 beat Collin Berry's 100.

"We thought we could take it," Smith said.

Jackson won earlier this month by 13 strokes against Farmington, which beat North County by three strokes on the Raiders' home course Wednesday.

"I can't really complain about what we shot today," Jackson coach Ron Cook said. "T.J. has been shooting about 39 for nine holes. Most of our players were a shot away from what they would average for 18. It's a challenging course."

The kind of challenge that can boost a lot of golf averages in a hurry.

But for Smith, playing Dalhousie was just another day. He works at the course as a caddie, making him one of the most familiar with it. That was an asset.

"The greens are deceptive. They don't break as much as they look," he said. "A lot of holes, you can't see where you're hitting."

Smith said he lost most of his strokes to par on the par-3 holes.

"I played everything else even," Smith said. "I just could not get a par on the par-3s.

"I hit my driver a long way today. I hit it straight. That helped a lot."

Another player intimately familiar with the course, Central's Jack Connell, fired an 83 to tie for fifth place. Connell's father, Jack, is Dalhousie's director of golf.

Jordan Sheets added an 87 for Central, which finished fifth with a team score of 360.

Just ahead of the Tigers in fourth place was Notre Dame with a score of 353. The Bulldogs had three players under 90, led by sophomore Brett Slaten's 84. Austin Gelsheimer added an 85 and John Oliver scored an 88.

Perryville scored a 406, first-year program Advance came in with a 440, and host Saxony posted a 453.

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Scoring by team

Jackson (339) -- T.J. Smith 77, A.J. Balsman 83, Brian Hill 83, Joe Shultz 96, Trent Weaver 97.

Notre Dame (353) -- Brett Slaten 84, Austin Gelsheimer 85, John Oliver 88, Jack Wedemeier 96, Emily Matthews 106.

Central (360) -- Jack Connell 83, Jordan Sheets 87, Tim Simmons 91, Cole Viers 99, Garrett Pannier 100.

Perryville (406) -- Jonny Zahner 90, Wes Buchheit 101, Rick Dunn 103, Wade Nelson 112, Chris Streiler 113.

Saxony Lutheran (453) -- Clay Obergoenner 101, Tyler James 111, Alex Jauch 111, Ben Skelton 130, Ben Beussink 132.

Advance (440) -- Alex Steil 106, Cody Poe 110, Ben Anschultz 111, Cody Mitchell 113, Tyler Slinkard 124.

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See complete team and individual scores by clicking here.

See video clips from the tournament by clicking here

See Jackson's T.J. Smith talk about his day by clicking here.

See North County coach Jeff Lotz and Saxony coach Carroll Williams talk about the tournament.

See the photos taken by Fred Lynch of the Southeast Missourian.