Bison wind-blown at 1st day of Class B state golf meet

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- The hopes for a state title for the McCook High School boys golf team might have gotten blown away by heavy wind gusts Tuesday, May 21.

The Bison suffered through a tough day during the opening 18 holes of the 2013 Nebraska Class B State High School Golf Championships at Jackrabbit Run Golf Course northeast of Grand Island. The usually steady McCook squad carded a total of 337 strokes to sit in fifth place in the team standings after the state meet's first round.

The good news? The Bison are just 17 strokes out of first place heading into the final 18 holes set Wednesday, May 22. McCook's western Nebraska rival Scottsbluff came home with a 320 for the low team score of the opening day. Blair was second with 326, followed by Beatrice with a 328, Omaha Skutt Catholic with a 334 and McCook. Aurora was sixth at 340, and four teams were tied for seventh at 347.

McCook head coach Rick Haney said his team couldn't master windy conditions at the Grand Island course. Haney said the winds were gusting up to 35 to 40 miles per hour during Tuesday's round.

"Our team did well, but we have not all season long played very well with the wind," he said. "If it calms down (Wednesday) we're expecting our scores hopefully will go down, too.

"It was a deal where we definitely didn't shoot the scores we wanted or expected. But there's always tomorrow. We have four scores that count (Wednesday) over 18 holes and hopefully we can make up some ground and finish toward the top of the field."

McCook senior Sean Backer slipped to an 81 Tuesday to sit in a tie for 15th in the individual standings after the opening 18 holes. Backer sits just six shots off the lead entering Wednesday's final 18 holes. Bison freshman Noah Hofman shot an 82 to tie for 18th, and junior Mack Alspaugh one stroke behind with an 83, tied for 23rd.

James Mitnik, a junior, carded a 91 for the Bison, and freshman Riley Loop had a 98.

In Nebraska high school golf, each team enters five individual players. The low four individual scores for each 18 holes count toward the team total.

Scottsbluff's Michael Hadden led the field with a 75.

The final18 holes of the Class B state meet will be contested Wednesday at Jackrabbit Run. Winds are forecast to gust to only 20 miles per hour Wednesday.

Coach Haney hopes all his players can drop their scores in Wednesday's final round and the Bison could conceivably make a run at that coveted state title. But McCook will need some help from the other teams ahead of them on the leader board.

"Two things we hope will happen -- some of the teams toward the top that maybe surprised us will maybe come back at us (higher scores), and we'll maybe lower our scores," Haney said. "I know our kids are pretty determined. We had a team meeting (Tuesday) night. The kids seemed pretty focused. They're eager to get back to the course (Wednesday) and hopefully redeem themselves a little bit."

NEBRASKA CLASS B BOYS STATE

Team Standings

Top 20 Individuals

McCook Individual Rounds

NOTE: Final 18 holes Wednesday, May 22 at Jackrabbit Run Golf Course in Grand Island