Islander golfers looking for state bid

The Grand Island Senior High boys golf team is hopeful that the combination added intra-squad competition and a home-course advantage will make the difference for the Islanders this year in the district tournament.

Grand Island, which missed earning a state bid by six strokes last year in districts, will play host to the Class A, District 3 tournament at 8:30 a.m. Monday at Riverside Golf Club. The top three teams and top 10 individuals and ties all qualify for next week's state tournament.

The Islanders are coming off a third-place finish Friday in the Grand Island Invitational as they prepped for the district meet by shooting 310 at Riverside. Freshman Alec Anania led GISH on Friday, placing fourth with an even-par 72, while senior Seth Rhodes was 11th with a 78.

However, Grand Island coach Scott Fox said his team's trademark this season has been balance. Several different players have taken turns leading the Islanders at different meets throughout the course of the season.

"We've been very consistent," Fox said. "One thing I attribute that to is the competition on our team. They're fighting every week for (varsity) spots.

"Lance Kush, Gavin Brown and Joel Mostek have been pushing the guys and sometimes taking their spot. That's helped us."

Still, Fox said it will take a good performance for the Islanders to qualify for state as a team against a salty district field.

"Lincoln Southeast and (Omaha) Creighton Prep have strong teams and North Platte and Papillion-LaVista South  have had good performances," Fox said. "You throw us in there, and it'll be a challenging district."

Grand Island Northwest will compete in the Class B, District 2 meet Monday at Southern Hills Golf Course in Hastings. Max Luber and Nate Cox both shot 78, leading the Vikings at their previous outing in last Tuesday's Tri-City Tournament at Jackrabbit Run Golf Course in Grand Island.

"I think we're improving," Northwest coach Dave Marron said. "We've had a few days to work on a few more things to try and take a few more strokes off, and that's what we're obviously hoping to do before we play on Monday."

Heartland Lutheran is the other city team competing in a district tournament Monday, playing in the D-3 meet at Grand Island Indianhead Golf Club. Matt Wagnitz will be bidding to earn his third consecutive trip to the state tournament for the Red Hornets.

On Tuesday, Grand Island Central Catholic will play C-4 district meet, also at Indianhead. Hastings St. Cecilia and Gibbon figure to be the favorites in the team race, while the Buffaloes' brother tandem of Jordan Reinertson and Josh Reinertson figure to be major factors in the chase for individual medalist.

GICC coach Bob McFarland said his Crusaders will need a much-improved effort to qualify for the state tournament. Central Catholic carded 334 last Tuesday at Jackrabbit Run, but McFarland said he thinks his team will have to shoot 320 or lower to be in contention for a top-three finish.

"We were hoping to have a better day so we could develop some confidence going into the district tournament," McFarland said. "We've got a long way to go to compete with St. Cecilia and Gibbon in our district, plus there are some other good teams like St. Paul and Wood River.

"We had a lot of penalty strokes (Tuesday), so we have cut down on those and improve with our short game to cut off some strokes."



Area Boys Prep Golf District Assignments

Class A, District 3

Monday

At Grand Island Riverside G.C.

Grand Island, Lincoln High, Lincoln Southeast, North Platte, Omaha Creighton Prep, Omaha North, Papillion-LaVista South, South Sioux City.



Class B, District 2

Monday

At Hastings Southern Hills G.C.

Adams Central, Aurora, Central City, Crete, Fairbury, Grand Island Northwest Hastings, Holdrege, Milford, Minden, Seward, York.



Class B, District 3

Monday

At Wayne C.C.

Blair, Boone Central, Columbus Lakeview, Logan View, Elkhorn Mount Michael, O'Neill, Omaha Gross, Omaha Roncalli, Omaha Skutt, Pierce, Schuyler, Wayne.



Class B, District 4

Monday

At Ogallala West Winds G.C.

Alliance, Broken Bow, Chadron, Cozad, Gering, Gothenburg, Lexington, McCook, Ogallala, Scottsbluff, Sidney, Valentine.



Class C, District 1

Monday

At York Country Club

Wahoo Neumann, David City, Elmwood Murdock, Fillmore Central, Heartland, Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer, Johnson County Central, Lincoln Christian, Lincoln Lutheran, Palmyra, Southern, Superior, Sutton, Thayer Central.



Class C, District 2

Monday

At Valley Pines Country Club

Arlington, Bennington, Columbus Scotus, Douglas County West, Fort Calhoun, Fullerton, Homer, North Bend Central, Oakland-Craig, Omaha Brownell-Talbot, Tekamah-Herman, Twin River, West Point Central Catholic, West Point-Beemer, Wisner-Pilger.



Class C, District 4

Tuesday

At Grand Island Indianhead G.C.

Blue Hill, Centura, Doniphan-Trumbull, Elm Creek, Gibbon, Grand Island Central Catholic, Hastings St. Cecilia, Kearney Catholic, Loup City, Ord, Ravenna, Sandy Creek, Southern Valley, St. Paul, Wood River.



Class D, District 3

Monday

At Grand Island Indianhead G.C.

Axtell, Burwell, Clay Center, Deshler, Exeter-Milligan, Franklin, Friend, Harvard, Heartland Lutheran, High Plains Community, Lawrence-Nelson, Osceola, Pleasanton, Red Cloud, Shelton.