LIBERAL — Great Bend’s Kelby Titus finished runner-up (74) and earned all-league honors at the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at Willow Tree Golf Course.
Titus fashioned nines of 38 and 36 for a 74 that vaulted him from sixth to third overall in the WAC standings. Titus earned honorable mention All-WAC last season.
“Kelby has worked extremely hard on improving all aspects of his game from last year,” said Great Bend coach Travis McAtee. “It has showed in the overall results this season.”
Garden City freshman Sion Audrain shot 5-under-par 67 to beat Titus by seven strokes. Garden City (302) won the team title over Hays High (309).
Jared Divis (96), Andrew Erb (99) and Payton Doll (111) also counted for the Panthers.
“Jared Divis shot a season best 96. It was good to see Jared shoot nine-hole scores in the 40s,” McAtee said. “Hopefully this will give him some confidence moving forward to finish the season and into next year.
“The team shot a season best score of 380,” McAtee said. “We are still far from being competitive with good teams. But we are pleased that with every passing tournament, our team score did get better. In the end, the team score improved 66 shots from beginning of the season to the end.”
Audrain was named WAC Player of the Year and Garden City coach Jacob Waller was named WAC Coach of the Year. Garden City’s Taylor Larsen, Allen Zollinger, Trey McCrae and Payton Ruder of Hays High and Dodge City’s Luke Gleason earned first-team All-WAC honors.
Great Bend will be the site of a Class 5A golf regional Monday at Stoneridge Country Club. The top three teams and five other individuals qualify for the Class 5A State Tournament.
“We look forward to hosting teams from Liberal, Salina South, Salina Central, Goddard, Valley Center, and Newton and getting to play regionals on our home course,” McAtee said.
WAC TOURNAMENT
At Liberal, Willow Tree GC, par 72
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1. Sion Audrain, GC, 67 (33-34); 2. Kelby Titus, GB, 74 (38-36); 3. Matt Vogel, DC, 74 (37-37); 4. Logan Durst, GC, 75 (39-36); 5. Taylor Larsen, GC, 77 (35-42); 6. Allen Zollinger, Hays, 77 (40-37); 7. Tradgon McCrae, Hays, 77 (39-38); 8. Luke Gleason, DC, 77 (38-39); 10. Brent Koenigsman, Hays, 77; Justin McCullick, Hays, 78 (38-40).
TEAM TOTALS—1. Garden City 302; 2. Hays 311; 3. Dodge City 309; 4. Liberal 328; 5. Great Bend, 380 (Titus 74, Jared Divis 96, Andrew Erb 99, Payton Doll 111, Aaron Stein 113, John Barrington 129).