Litzelfelner, Notre Dame settle for second at Jackson Invitational

Heading into the clubhouse after an 18-hole round at Kimbeland Country Club, Jack Litzelfelner looked down at his scorecard and called it "one of the best" performances of his season so far.

The Notre Dame junior, who was coming off a runner-up finish at the Poplar Bluff Invitational, shot a 2-over par 72. But even a quality score like his wasn't good enough to beat out Sikeston senior Gabe Wheeler, who finished with an even-par 70 to claim medalist in the Jackson Invitational on Monday afternoon.

"I didn't know what he was at, but I knew he was close and probably somewhere around even," Litzelfelner said about Wheeler. "We've been pretty close in a lot of matches this year, so I know he's always going to be up there."

Notre Dame, which won the Jackson Invitational in 2013, fell short in the team standings as Poplar Bluff, the 2012 champion, reclaimed the title by seven strokes. The tournament was canceled in 2014 due to bad weather.

The Mules, led by Nick Woolard's 75, recorded a 309 total and were the only team in the field to have all five golfers shoot 81 or less.

Hunt Nagy followed with a 77, Nathan Woolard carded a 78 and Tyler Norton shot 79 to round out the Mules' score.

The Bulldogs had three golfers shoot 82 or higher, with Jonathan Bell (79), Trent Schumer (82) and Lincoln Hunter (83) rounding out the team total of 316.

Cape Central's Luke Kinder places his ball on the second green during the Jackson Invitational Monday, April 20, 2015 at Kimbeland Country Club in Jackson. (Fred Lynch)

Litzelfelner, who was the tournament's medalist as a freshman and began his round on No. 1 in the shotgun start, was at 2-over par with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3 but birdied No. 6 to make the turn at 1-over par 36. He moved under par with birdies on Nos. 10 and 12, then stumbled with bogeys on Nos. 13, 14 and 15 before parring out.

"I had some shots there that I would've liked back," Litzelfelner said. "The wind kind of hung up some of my shots, and others I just didn't play well at all. Definitely something to work on."

Wheeler, meanwhile, had one birdie, one bogey and 16 pars, including pars on his final 10 holes. He used the wind to his advantage on his way to his third tournament victory of the season.

"The wind -- huge factor today, so I've developed some pretty good ways to work on those wind shots over the past year," Wheeler said. "It's really just a lot of confidence. You just have to know how to judge your shots, be able to pick up the wind and have all the confidence where that ball is going to go before you put it in the air."

With the other four players in his fivesome and several other spectators watching, the Murray State commit showcased his short game on the par-4 15th.

After his first two shots landed in the rough, Wheeler placed his third shot about 10 feet from the hole. On his par putt, the ball appeared to be going wide right, but it broke sharply close to the hole and firmly hit the back of the cup, popping in the air and dropping in.

"I about bogeyed it," Wheeler said. "I kind of messed up a little bit, but luckily saved par and then left a good stretch on the next three holes so I could finish out strong."

Jackson's Eli Pike chips onto the second green during the Jackson Invitational Monday, April 20, 2015 at Kimbeland Country Club in Jackson. (Fred Lynch)

Jackson finished third with a score of 332 to edge Sikeston by one stroke.

Hunter Asher and Eli Pike finished 1-2 for the Indians with scores of 76 and 81, respectively, but struggled on the par 3s.

"We could've probably played a little bit better, and we have played better this year," Jackson coach Zack Walton said. "Since this is our home course, it's a little disappointing when you don't shoot your best score. Everybody wants to do that at home. But we struggled to make the par 3s. If we get a few of those back, I think Hunter Asher is probably right up there with Gabe. But we have to just forget about it, get back out on the course and prepare for conference on Monday."

Fox Haven Country Club in Sikeston, Missouri, will host the SEMO Conference Tournament on Monday.

Results

Team -- Poplar Bluff 309, Notre Dame 316, Jackson 332, Sikeston 333, Cape Central 350, Park Hills Central 356, Dexter 357, Fort Zumwalt South 362, Bloomfield 383

Individual -- Gabe Wheeler (S) 70, Jack Litzelfelner (ND) 72, Nick Woolard (PB) 75, Hunter Asher (J) 76, Kobe Franklin (C) 76, Ethan Stevens (D) 76, Hunt Nagy (PB) 77, Nathan Woolard (PB) 78, Luke Kinder (C) 78, Tyler Norton (PB) 79, Clark Atchison (S) 80, Brandon Wagner (PH) 80, Eli Pike (J) 81, Drake Mitchell (D) 81, Jake Richardson (PB) 81

Central -- Kobe Franklin 76, Luke Kinder 78, Christian Retter 94, Kegan Bramlett 102, Dustin Lindsey 109

Jackson -- Hunter Asher 76, Eli Pike 81, Ty LeGrand 83, Caleb Likens 92, JT Gabler 93

Notre Dame -- Jack Litzelfelner 72, Jon Bell 79, Trent Schumer 82, Lincoln Hunter 83, Jon Renner 91

Poplar Bluff -- Nick Woolard 75, Hunt Nagy 77, Nathan Woolard 78, Tyler Norton 79, Jake Richardson 81