A history of success at the Class 1A boys’ golf regional level has been established at St. John High School.
In the programs 13 years, the Tigers have qualified their entire team for the state tournament 12 times and sent two individuals in 2005.
“Last time we didn’t send the whole team was in 2005,” St. John head coach Clint Kinnamon said. “We’ve had a golf program since the 2003-2004 season. We’ve taken the whole team every year except that one.”
The tradition continued this year as St. John won a Class 1A regional championship, taking the top 4 individual places.
Bryce Garner claimed an individual regional championship to lead St. John.
Jacob Falk beat Spencer Nusser in a playoff to finish second in St. John’s regional. Kade Kinnamon placed fourth.
“Spencer is probably our most consistent golfer,” Clint Kinnamon said. “He’s been pretty steady all year long. Jacob, Kade, Bryce, they all have the chance of being pretty low, but they’ll end up being high on other days, you know.”
Clint Kinnamon said that the tradition helps motivate his team.
“They all grew up down the street from the Burgans and the others who started the program,” the coach said. “They saw the success that they had, going to state. The tradition feeds itself.
“The kids play quite a bit in the summer. That’s when they get good. It’s not me being coach of the year. They just work on it.”
The 1A state tournament is scheduled for Monday at Highlands Country Club in Hutchinson beginning at 8:30 a.m.
“We’ve played at this course earlier in the year,” Clint Kinnamon said. “It’s a pretty hard course. We try to play in the bigger tournaments during the season. We get beat up a bit, but we don’t end up last. We’re usually somewhere in the middle.
“Playing those bigger teams prepares us for this.”