Falcons finish 12th at state golf tournament

By JOHN VERSER
Glasgow Daily Times

BOWLING GREEN October 13, 2008 11:21 am

— Monroe County shot a final round of 334 on Saturday to finish 12th in the boys state golf tournament at Bowling Green Country Club.
The Falcons, who made the cut after a first round 317, finished with a 651 in the two-day event.
“It was great. It’s something that we’ll be able to build on for next year,” Monroe coach Steve Kirkpatrick said. “We’ve got everyone returning. Overall, it was a good learning experience for the kids.
“We made the goals that we set for ourselves as far as winning the district tournament, winning the Class “A” Region and then going to the state tournament. Everything fell into place pretty well for us.”
Matthew Anderson shot a 2-over par 74 in the second round to lead the Falcons. He shot a 5-over 149 to tie for 14th in the individual standings.
Chad McPherson finished with a second round 84, Travis Page shot an 86, Kaelin McPherson had a round of 90 and Troy Tooley finished with a 97.
“We’ve shown a tremendous amount of improvement from the start of the season,” Kirkpatrick said. “We were shooting probably around the high 320s. I think we may have even shot a 330 in one tournament. Here at the end of the season, we shot 311 in the region and 317 the first day of the state. We got down there below the 320 level. That’s a big improvement from how we started out the season.”
St. Xavier shot 6-over 582 as a team to edge Marshall County, the 2007 state champion, by three strokes for the team title.
David Payne, of St. Xavier, beat Marshall County’s Travis Thompson in a one-hole playoff to claim the individual title. Both Payne and Thompson, last year’s individual champion, shot 5-under 139. Justin Thomas of St. Xavier finished third with a 4-under 140. Marshall County’s Peter Meeks finished fourth with a 143, while Marshall County’s Blanton Farmer and Scott County’s Kyle Wilshire each shot a 144 to tie for fifth.
The Falcons return their entire team for the 2009 season. Anderson and Chad McPherson are both juniors this year. Page and Kaelin McPherson are sophomores, while Tooley is a seventh grader. Kirkpatrick also said there were several others that could break into the team’s top five if they continue to improve.
“Hopefully the confidence will carry over into next season and we’ll learn a lot from what we do well,” Kirkpatrick said. “It seems like we’ve been doing well the first nine and we do pretty well after the turn, but it’s like when we get to the 14th or 15th hole, I think we kind of get a little mentally drained and we lose a little focus.
“Hopefully from all this experience that we’ve had in these tournaments in post season, that will carry over to next year and we’ll be able to build on it.”

Individual rounds
Monroe County 1 2
Matthew Anderson 75 74
Chad McPherson 79 84
Travis Page 81 86
Kaelin McPherson 82 90
Troy Tooley 95 97

Team finish
1. St. Xavier 582
2. Marshall County 585
3. Lexington Christian 598
4. Paul Dunbar 599
5. Ryle 628
6. West Jessamine 630
7. Somerset 632
8. Covington Catholic 636
9. Russellville 645
10. Taylor County 646
11. Elliott County 650
12. Monroe County 651

Missed cut
Elizabethtown (323), Johnson Central (325), Apollo (326), Daviess County (328), Greenup County (329), Pikeville (332), John Hardin (333), Male (335), Corbin (335), Heath (337), Pendleton County (350), Mason County (356).

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