JUNIOR GOLFERS SHOW HEART IN FINAL ROUND

JACKSON, Mo. -- In all sports, consistency is what separates the good from the best.

Such was the case in the Heartland Junior Classic this week as only the golfers with three good rounds placed in the top five in the highly competitive event that featured 115 golfers from the Midwest at Bent Creek Golf Course.

Jarred Green of Silva shot the best three-round score of all the golfers with a total of 224. He was in the tough 15-16 age division and got better as the tournament went on. He shot a 77 on Tuesday, an unbelievable 75 in the fierce winds on Wednesday then capped off his run with a par-72 in the final round on Thursday.

"You look at the people in the top five and there weren't any real high scores," said tournament organizer Mike Litzelfelner. "The only exception was maybe Ty Gramling of Cape who shot an 86 the first day and came back with two good rounds to take third."

In the 17-18 bracket, Billy Woosley of Murphysboro, Ill., -- who owned the lead after each round of the tournament -- finished with a 237 after shooting a 76 on Day 1, an 82 on Wednesday and an 81 in the final round. Woosley's six-shot lead heading into Thursday's final round was in jeopardy after the turn, however. Woosley bogeyed six consecutive holes and found himself up by just one stroke over Steve Graham, Jr. of Lee's Summit going to the 17th hole. But Woosley regrouped and eagled the par-5 17 to put Graham away.

"He was in the middle of fairway and it's a very difficult second shot," said Litzelfelner. "He had a downhill lie, he was looking into the wind and he had to carry the creek. To pull off the shot that he did in those circumstances was all the more impressive. Usually in that situation, the opposite happens and the other guy comes up with the big shot. But Billy composed himself and made it."

Zach Barlow of Percy, Ill., blew away the competition in the 13-14 group. His score of 231 was seven strokes better than the second-place finisher. After shooting a 78 the first day, he dropped a stroke in each of the last two rounds.

Some impressive scores came out of the 11-12 division, which played just nine holes each day. Last year, the best three-day total was 117, but there were three golfers who bettered that mark this year, including Justin Yoder of Versailles.

Playing the back nine, he shot a 37, a 38 and a par-36 to end up with a score of 111.

Last year, Versailles was in position to win the division, but double-bogeyed No. 17. This year, in basically the same position, he eagled the hole and went on to win.

In the 15-16 girls, Christine Idoux of Waterloo, Ill., shot an 84 Thursday to finish with a 261.

A handful of local players landed in the top five.

Gramling took third in the 13-14 division with a total of 242. Matt Bain of Sikeston took fifth in the same division with a 249.

Dexter resident Kyle Christian, who began the final round in a first-place tie in the 15-16 group, shot an 80 on Thursday and ended up eight strokes back of the lead in third place.

Jackson golfer Matt Litzelfelner, 15, didn't end up in the top five, but he did finish with the best round of the tournament. On Thursday, he shot a 1-under par 71. Litzelfelner had a peculiar tournament to say the least. On the first day, he shot a 76 and was two strokes off the pace, but on Wednesday he struggled and shot a 95. But he rebounded on Thursday and took 24 strokes off his previous day's performance.

In the 11-12 group, Jeremy Fleetwood of Benton, Ill., shot a 1-under 35 in nine holes. He ended up in third place.

For a list of the tournament leaders, see Scoreboard on Page 2B.