Jaguar golfers continue impressive season with conference title; Wildcats unable to put it together

Blue Springs South's J.P. Derksen follows his tee shot during a match
against Lee's Summit West earlier in the season. Derksen won the
individual conference title with a 71 Monday at Adams Pointe, helping
the team claim the shoot a 303 for first place.

It looked as if this would be the day.

Blue Springs South junior golfers J.P. Derksen and Blake Windsor finished up their rounds in the Suburban Big Six Conference championship at Adams Pointe Golf Club by shooting a 71 and 73, respectively, and they thought this was the day.

This was the day they were breaking 300 as a team.

“That was all they were thinking about when they came in with a 71 and 73,” South head coach Mike McGown said.

As it turned out, the Jaguars had to settle for just a conference title, as they shot a 303, beating second place Lee’s Summit North by 11 strokes.

“The boys are still upset,” McGown said. “They’re still focused; they want to break 300.”

Derksen’s 71 gave him the conference individual title in a scorecard playoff with Lee’s Summit’s Austin Staudinger. Along with Windsor’s 73, Zack Kurth shot a 79 and Joe Hanes and Blair Sanders each shot 80.

And according to McGown, it could have been better.

“We hit a lot of fairways and greens. We like to be at 30 putts or below, so if we get rid of Blair’s five three-putts he’s down to 75 and Blake’s 33 putts and all of a sudden we’re at 295,” McGown said, “and we haven’t changed one thing except putting.”

Blue Springs South's Blair Sanders shot an 80 Monday.

This conference title is the beginning of what the Jaguars hope will be a special final few weeks of the season and the culmination of what was an impressive regular season.

South has lost just one match all season behind the strength of an experienced team in which each golfer has the ability to shoot a No. 1-type score.

While Derksen and Windsor have been the leaders during the season and are consistently atop the leaderboard, at different times this season Kurth has shot a 72, Hanes a 74 and Sanders a 75.

“Not only are they all pretty consistent but they have the potential to go low,” McGown said.

A tournament earlier in the year was evidence of this, as Derksen wasn’t on his game and fired an 80. But there was Hanes to pick up the slack, leading the way with a 74.

“That day turned everything around. It showed they had confidence in themselves and the team,” McGown said. “This season we’ve been relaxed, there’s been no pressure and we try to keep them in the mindset that you don’t have to go out and win a tournament. There are five guys out there to help pick you up.”

McGown has been preaching that attitude all season, that trust in one another, along with pushing a relaxing environment.

Blue Springs South's Zack Kurth shot an 80
Monday.

“We’ve done it for as long as I’ve been coaching. The harder you push and try the worse you play,” McGown said. “They have to focus on the here and now. They can’t worry about the past. What they have to focus on is this is the shot I have to hit right now.”

That relaxing attitude has helped mold one of the team’s biggest assets, which has been its ability to overcome any rough patch in the course of a round.

“I think they’re strong and able to overcome adversity,” McGown said. “We’ve had situations where we’ve gone bogey, double bogey, bogey and then we turn around with par, birdie, par. They don’t let a couple of bad holes or shots bother them.”

McGown hopes that continues Wednesday in the District Tournament at Longview Golf Club. The top two teams make it out of the district and into sectionals next week, and with the likes of Rockhurst, Lee’s Summit West and Lee’s Summit North as foes, they will need a special kind of focus to continue what has been a special season.

“We feel this is high school sports and being that, anything can happen on any given day,” McGown said. “We never play to an opponent, we just play the golf course. Let’s not worry about what anybody else is doing.

“We finished up the dance on this card here and there’s a whole new dance Wednesday.”

WILDCATS STRUGGLE

Blue Springs’ inconsistency continued at the conference match Monday, as they shot a 354.

“I think the kids are a little discouraged. They just can’t seem to put it together,” Wildcats head coach Tom Round said. “We felt good about going over there (Adams Pointe) and we just didn’t play real well.”

Blue Springs' Zac Clark hits his tee shot during an 18-hole match last
week. Clark fired a 90 at the conference tournament Monday. 

Nathan Podjenski led the way with an 84. Rounding out the scoring was Josh Whitt with an 89, Zac Clark a 90 and Kyle Finley a 91.

Round realizes it may be tough for his team to get excited about Wednesday’s District Tournament, but he hopes they can play a little more free and easy.

“You have to go there with a positive attitude,” he said. “I feel like they’re kind of beaten down. They’re having a hard time being positive and it’s a hard game to play when you’re down on yourself. I don’t think there’s any expectation level so maybe they will go in relaxed and play well.”