St. Vincent senior caps career as state champion

Four area schools finished in the top four of their respective class in the MSHSAA boys golf state championships.

But only one local golfer won the individual state championship.

St. Vincent senior Payton Strattman placed first in the Class 1 championship with a score of 146 (72, 74) and led the Indians to a second-place finish in the team standings on Tuesday, May 14, at the Twin Hills Golf & Country Club in Joplin, Mo.

“It's awesome,” Strattman said. You never want your high school, career to end but that's kind of the best way you can really ask for it to end.”

Strattman said the most stressful part of his run to the title was when he had a three-shot lead entering the final four holes. He ended his run by winning by a seven-stroke margin.

“Just knowing that I had a three-shot lead going into the last four holes or so,” Strattman said. “Once I birdied, and the guy right behind me bogeyed, I kind of was able to just coast home and I knew I had it.”

From that moment on, Strattman knew the title was his to lose.

“I tried to kind of suppress those feelings deep down because anything can happen,” Strattman said. “But yeah, I was pretty confident.”

Like the other class tournaments, Strattman and the other golfers had to weather the storm throughout the week.

“The toughest part was definitely the conditions,” Strattman said. “They weren't the greatest. We had a three-hour rain delay on the first day, and the course was soaked, but overall, it was pretty good.”

It’s been a banner year overall for Strattman. He started his senior year by leading the boys' basketball team to their first district championship since 2005. Before their second-place state finish, the Indians also won their second consecutive district title.

“It's definitely exceeded my expectations,” Strattman said. “I knew going into it that everybody believes that they can win all of them, but to actually win all of them is pretty surreal.”

Strattman said a lot of work in the offseason led to bridging the gap between where he finished his junior year and becoming a champion as a senior.

“I definitely put a lot of work in over the offseason, which helped my confidence a lot,” Stattman said. “Just going into a tournament, knowing that you have a chance to win is a lot different than just trying to go out there and hopefully you win.”

Strattman leaves St. Vincent knowing that the golf program is a bigger and better place.

“It's definitely growing,” Strattman said. “This year we had about 30 kids show up for the golf team, which besides football was the most at any sport, so it's definitely growing and I think it's really cool to see that.”

Strattman said he will go to Mineral Area College to play golf next year.

“I'm going to Mineral Area for the first two years of college and then we'll see where it takes me,” Strattman said.