BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
On a windswept Monday, two Great Bend’s golfers posted a pair of top 10 medals and earned the respect of their coach.
Panther Brantley Baldwin placed third (80) and teammate Cole Streck placed fifth (83) at Stoneridge Country Club at the Great Bend Invitational. Streck played well for 10 holes before he hit out-of-bounds for a triple bogey.
The wind blew 35 to 40 mph with gusts hitting 49 mph from the south. The players putted on greens which have sustained winterkill, creating a white surface.
“Brantley and Cole had really good days,” said Great Bend coach Travis McAtee. “Wind conditions were as tough as we’ve played in. I was really proud of how well they played today.”
The wind forced players to create knockdown shots, depending on whether it was a crosswind, downwind or into the wind.
The Panthers finished third (350) behind Hays High (330) and Garden City (345). Liberal’s Cameron Riley (74) beat Hays High’s Tradgon McCrae (79) by five shots for medalist honors.
“It wasn’t our best score of the year, but I consider it our best tournament considering the wind conditions,” McAtee said. “I like that we’ve showed progress as the season has gone along.”
GREAT BEND INVITATIONAL
Stoneridge CC, par 71
TEAM TOTALS—1—Hays High, 330; 2—Garden City, 345; 3—Great Bend, 350 (Baldwin 80, Streck 83, Jayson Effertz 93, Ishmael Rodriguez 94, Aaron Stein 99, Cal Dunekack 109); 4—Liberal, 356; 5—Dodge City, 362; 6—Great Bend B, 417 (Grant Keller 100, Max Jerke 101, Payton Doll 108, Hamish Brown 108, Kaden Schroeder 116, Michael Harbaugh 122); 7—Dodge City B, 435
INDIVIDUALS—Sam Hall, GB, 108; Ray Kuhlman, GB, 117
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Cameron Riley, Liberal, 74 (39-35); 2—Tradgon McCrae, Hays, 79 (39-40); 3—Brantley Baldwin, GB, 80 (41-39); 4—Josh Norris, Hays, 80 (41-39); 5—Cole Streck, GB, 83 (42-41); 6—Mason Shaddix, GC 84 (43-41); 7—Aaron Schafer, 84 (43-41); 8—Luke Gleason, DC, 85 (43-42); 9—Allen Zollinger, Hays 85 (42-43); 10—Peyton Kieffer, Hays, 86 (42-44)
