Sports editor
If any of the Marion Warrior golfers thought he or she needed to get to know Marion Country Club better, this past week helped.
The Warriors played three of four rounds on their home course in the past week to wrap-up the regular season.
The Warriors were at home May 5 for the Marion Invitational, Friday for half of the Marion County tournament, and Monday to play host to the Mid-Central Activities Association League tournament.
Hillsboro Municipal Golf Course played host to the other half of the county tournament.
Top Warrior golfer Luke Gordon continued his successful season by winning the Marion Invitational, taking seventh Friday and third Monday.
Gordon tied Hillsboro’s Daniel Kunantaev for second Monday with a 74, but fell to third after losing a tiebreaker.
Sterling’s Michael Gillerman won the meet with a 72, after winning the Marion County tournament by shooting 67 at Hillsboro and 69 at Marion.
Gordon actually led Gillerman by one stroke through 14 holes to go Monday, but the sophomore went birdie, birdie on 14 and 15 to eventually claim first place.
Gillerman and Gordon were two of a four-man group that included Kunantaev and Wichita Collegiate’s Craig Howell.
Howell tied for fourth but lost a tiebreaker to his teammate, Ben Hatfield.
“Luke played well and it was exciting to watch the top four golfers in the league battle for a league championship,” said MHS co-head coach Tod Gordon.
As a team Marion took fourth with a 333. Warrior Lindsay Hett missed 10th place by one stroke after shooting 80.
Niklas Bronnert came in with 88, Landon Leiker 91, Ryan Jones, 96, and Scott Jones 97.
One less stroke for any Warrior would have given the team third place after tying with Halstead.
Hillsboro (fifth) and Sterling (sixth) were only one stroke behind Marion and Halstead at 334.
Marion County Invitational
Fourteen teams competed Friday in the only 36-hole high school golf tournament in the state.
Half of the squads played in the morning at Hillsboro while the other half were at Marion.
The teams switched after playing 18 on their respective courses.
Coach Gordon said the only break each player had was the 10-minute drive between courses, and a five-minute lunch break to grab a hamburger.
The golfers were rushed to finish because a Thursday-night storm brought nearly four inches of rain to the county.
The start was delayed three hours to 11 a.m., and Tod Gordon said play did not end until 8:30 p.m.
Hillsboro coach Scott O’Hare, who was co-host of the event, appreciated the golfers, coaches, and fans who participated in the long event.
“I know getting all 36 holes in was a lot to ask of the kids with the shortened time frame, but that was our goal,” O’Hare said. “We take pride in hosting the only 36-hole, high school golf tournament in the state. I hope, with all things considered, it was a positive experience.”
For Gillerman it certainly was, as the sophomore shot a combined 136, 11 strokes ahead of second place Lex Deal of Concordia.
Gordon was the top Warrior golfer once again, shooting 76 at Hillsboro and 75 at Marion to take seventh place.
Marion was fourth out of 14 schools in the overall standings.
Exchange student Bronnert continued to improve, shooting a season-best 80 at Hillsboro and 84 at Marion to take 26th place.
Leiker had an up-and-down day. It began down with a 90 at Hillsboro, but he bounced back with a career-best 76 on his home course. The round gave him an eight-place finish at Marion.
Hett was five places behind Leiker with a total of 170.
Scott Jones finished at 182 and Ryan Jones 185.
MHS meet
Gordon won his fourth tournament of the season May 5 at the MHS invitational.
His round of 76 was three shots better than second place Parker Erickson of Herington.
Bronnert and Leiker both shot 83 for fourth and fifth place respectively.
The Warriors shot a six-man total of 525 to take second place behind fellow Marion County team Centre.
The four-man tandem of Gordon, Leiker, Hett, and Bronnert earned a first-place plaque, defeating second-place Centre by seven strokes.
The Jones brothers finished sixth in the two-man group.
For full results see Page 15