By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WAMEGO -- Shawnee Heights senior golf standout Alex Valdivia didn't feel like he hit or putted the ball particularly well in Thursday's Washburn Rural Invitational.
Shawnee Heights senior Alex Valdivia tied for third place in Thursday's Washburn Rural Invitational, shooting a 74. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
But thanks to some nifty scrambling Valdivia still scored well, tying for a city-best third in the 16-school field with a four-over-par 74 at Wamego Country Club.
"I didn't really play good,'' Valdivia said. "I didn't really hit my drives good, I didn't hit my irons good, I couldn't really putt good but I was able to scramble put up a decent score.
"It was definitely a scrambling kind of day.''
Topeka West junior Myles Alonzo shot a 75 Thursday at Wamego Country Club, tying for seventh place. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
Topeka West junior Myles Alonzo birdied his final two holes to tie for seventh with a 75.
Washburn Rural's top six placed fourth as a team with a 309 total, led by senior Tyler Baumchen with a 76.
Rural also got 77s from junior Hayden Glynn and senior Andrew Burdett and a 79 from sophomore Tadd Armstrong.
Rural coach Jared Goehring, whose team was playing its second tournament, said he thought the Junior Blues took some strides forward on Thursday.
"We saw glimpses today,'' Goehring said. "We got off to a great star. The middle of the round was solid. We didn't finish as strong as we would have liked but I saw glimpses of what could be here for the future for this team.
"Any time you can count four scores in the 70s, especially out here on a tough course, that's a great accomplishment. We're right there. We'll get better and keep improving.''
Washburn Rural also entered a second team in its invitational, with the Rural Gray posting a four-player score of 334, led by Brady Conard with a 78.
Junior Rich Helmbold led Topeka High with an 87.
WASHBURN RURAL INVITATIONAL
At Wamego Country Club
Team scores
Olathe West 300, Olathe South 303, Manhattan 305, Washburn Rural 309, Blue Valley Northwest 311, Blue Valley West 312, Emporia 319, Blue Valley 322, Free State 327, Shawnee Mission South 331, Shawnee Heights 333, St. Thomas Aquinas 333, Washburn Rural Gray 334, Shawnee Mission East 336, Mill Valley 341, Lawrence 349, Topeka High 388.
Individual results
1. (tie) Nickloy, Olathe West, and Matteoni, Blue Valley Northwest, 71; 3. (tie) Sullivan, Olathe West; T. Strong, Olathe South; Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, and B. Strrong, Olathe South, 74; 7. (tie) Reid, Manhattan; Cochran, Manhattan; Guinn, Olathe South; Massey, Emporia; Tarvin, Olathe West, and Alonzo, Topeka West, 75.
Washburn Rural -- Baumchen 76, Glynn 77, Burdett 77, Armstrong 79, Tyrell 82, Monasmith 82.
Washburn Rual Gray -- Conard 78, Wilson 84, Kasprzyk 86, Stead 86, Goeden 88, Goehring 91.
Washburn Rural individuals -- Zimlich 80, Hawks 93.
Other Shawnee Heights -- Jones 85, Crawford 86, Lincoln 88, Zerger 95, Holladay 96,
Topeka High -- Helmbold 87, Pavlik 98, Cleverdon 99, Everhart 104.
Other Topeka West -- Locker 113.
