McCook golf boys finish better at 'B' state than 2023

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. — McCook climbed four spots in the final Class B state places from last year Wednesday afternoon and sliced seven strokes off Tuesday’s opening-round score.

The Bison went from 339 to 332 for a 671 total that placed eighth overall among those 12 qualifying teams.

Junior Reid Loop dropped his own score two strokes for 160 (81-79) and captured a 12th place Class B state medal.

Equally impressive was how senior Cole Graham improved 15 strokes from 92 to 77. He’ll take that momentum into his McCook Community College golf career starting later this year.

“Cole had some trouble first day (Tuesday) off the tee box, but we worked on it,” coach Ben Vetrovsky told McCook radio station KICX sports man Rich Barnett. “It was a great way for Cole to end his Bison career with a 77. He struck the ball well all day.”

“Reid played pretty darn solid throughout day two,” Vetrovsky added. “He could have easily been a top 10 finisher if not for a couple of shots.”

Junior Landon Kmoch was next for the Bison at 166 (80-86) , tying for 28th place, and Graham shared 37th among more than 70 qualifiers at Scottsbluff Municipal Golf Course.

Junior Kolton Koetter’s 176 competed the Bison team total. Sophomore Trenton Raile also capped a great season of gaining varsity experience as he dropped one stroke on Wednesday to finish at 185.

“Landon had some spurts in there we played some really good golf,” Vetrovsky observed about Kmoch. “Kolton played some solid golf also. He struggled with some big numbers but had a lot of great holes in there. Same for Trenton.”

Norris won the team title at 630 and Titan senior Carson Thurber also earned the individual title with his 146.

More results can be seen on nsaahome.org and mccookgazette.com.