2021 Players | of the Year Announced

It was another great season for Central Links Golf and its member clubs and players. Players of the Year have been determined for the 2021 season. It was a close battle for some award winners, but all worked extremely hard to earn their respective Player of the Year title.

Women’s Players of the Year

Women’s Amateur Player of the Year: Katy Winters

Third place finish in the Prairie Invitational, Sixth place finish in the Kansas Women’s Amateur, Third place finish in the Kansas Women’s Mid-Am, Runner Up finish in Fall Triple Threat

Women’s Senior Amateur Player of the Year: Pam Simpson

Kansas Women’s Senior Champion, fourth place finish at Kansas Women’s Mid-Amateur

Women’s Super Senior Amateur Player of the Year: Denise Desilet

Tee Fore Two and Fall Triple Threat Champion, Kansas Women’s Senior Runner Up

Women’s Legends Amateur Player of the Year: Jettie Bezek

Kansas Women’s Super Senior and Fall Triple Threat Champion, top 15 finish at Prairie Invitational (Opal Hill Division)


Men’s Players of the Year

Kansas Amateur Player of the Year: Cooper Schultz

2021 Kansas Amateur Champion, 2021 US Open Sectional Qualifier, 2021 US Amateur Qualifier (made match play)

Kansas Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: Brian Fehr

2021 Kansas Mid-Amateur Champion, 2021 Kansas Amateur match play qualifier, Quarterfinalist in 2021 KC Match Play, top 10 finish in 2021 Railer, Team qualifier for 2021 Kanza Players Cup & Director’s Cup competitions

Kansas Senior & Super Senior Amateur Player of the Year: Greg Goode

2021 Kansas Four-Ball Masters Division Champion, 2nd place at 2021 Senior Series Championship, top 10 finishes in the Kansas Mid-Amateur, Railer, High Plains, KC Amateur, Konza Amateur, and Kansas Senior Four-Ball

Kansas Legends Player of the Year: Don Kuehn

Top 10 finishes in 2021 Railer, Legends of Kansas Championship, Kansas Senior Team Championship, KC Amateur, and Kansas Senior Four-Ball

Kansas City Amateur Player of the Year: Sam Parrott

Kansas City Amateur Champion, 4th place in Missouri Amateur Stroke Play

Kansas City Senior Player of the Year: Dave Cunningham

Kansas Senior Amateur Champion, Kansas City Four-Ball Championship Runner Up, 6 Stateline Amateur Tour Wins


Junior Player of the Year

Girls Player of the Year: Kate Tilma

Top 5 finish at Kansas Junior Girls Amateur Championship, KS Optimist Qualifier Medalist, Qualified for the US Women’s Four-Ball and US Girls Junior, Runner Up at 2021 KSHSAA 5A Girls State Championship

Boys Player of the Year: Luke Scheufler

Konza Prairie Amateur Champion, Kansas Junior Tour Champion (Boys 16+), Kansas City Boys Match Play Runner Up, Runner Up in the Kansas Boys Junior Amateur, Qualified for the US Boys Junior and a Kansas/Nebraska Cup team member

Meg Tilma Wins Sunflower Girls Championship

Meg Tilma caps off a great summer season as the 2021 Sadie Park Sunflower Girls Champion. Tilma finished 68-67 (135, -5) to tie Corbyn Marquess (68-67) at the end of the final round of competition. Tilma and Marquess went to Hole 10 for the sudden death playoff and with a birdie, Meg claimed her title.

It was a great tournament to wrap up our junior season. There were a lot of great scores. Kinslea Jones finished third place by one stroke after shooting 67-69 (136). Hanna Robinett finished fourth with 74-69 (143, +3).

Final Results >>

Photo Gallery >>

2020 Players | of the Year Announced

It was an eventful first year for Central Links Golf, the newly merged association between the former Kansas City Golf Association and Kansas Golf Association. Despite the pandemic, the association saw a record number of golfers registered for events.

Players of the Year have been determined for the 2020 season. It was a hard-fought battle between many golfers for their titles. Players of the Year are decided based on performance at events and points earned. Points lists can be found here>>

Men’s Players of the Year

Kansas City Men’s Player of the Year, Kansas Player of the Year, and Kansas Mid-Am Player of the Year – Park Ulrich

In Kansas City:

Park Ulrich was the runaway winner of the 2020 KC Amateur Player of the Year.  Park finished over 500 points ahead of this year’s runner up.  Park started his run in June by finishing 3rd in the Kansas City Four-ball Championship which he and his partner turned into a Heart America Four-ball Championship in September at Lawrence Country Club.  In July, Colbert Hills was the site of his first title in 2020, the Kansas Amateur.  Park claimed the trophy after an impressive run through a strong field.  Just two weeks later he finished 4th at the Kansas City Amateur Championship.  Park made a deep run in the KC Match Play championship before another top-6 finish at the Kansas Mid-Amateur championship in late October.  Park also qualified for his first USGA Championship this year when he and is partner were medalists at the US Four-ball Qualifier at Canyon Farms.  He will play in the championship at Chambers Bay in May.

In Kansas:

Ulrich became the first player to claim both the Kansas Player of the Year and Kansas Mid-Amateur Player of the Year in the same year in 2020.  Ulrich dominated the Kansas golf scene in both individual and team competitions.  On the team competition side, Ulrich was part of two winning teams at the Heart of America Four-Ball Match Play Finals with Davis Cooper in August and the Mid-Amateur Team in September with Doug Albers.  Ulrich captured the 110th Kansas Amateur Match Play Championship in July at Colbert Hills.  Ulrich also recorded a runner-up finish at the Kansas City Amateur in August and a top ten finish at the Kansas Mid-Amateur in October to round out his dominating season.

Kansas City Senior Men’s Player of the Year – Steve Groom

Steve Groom has been one of the top players in Kansas City for many years.  Steve claimed yet another Senior Player of the Year title in 2020.  Steve won two major titles in 2020: the KC Amateur Championship and the KC Senior Match Play Championship.  In addition to multiple top 3 finishes in StateLine events, he had a strong top 10 finish in the Kansas Senior Amateur Championship in August. 

Kansas Senior Men’s Player of the Year – Sean Thayer

Garden City’s Sean Thayer captured the 2020 Kansas Senior Player of the Year award by edging two time defending Senior Player of the Year Greg Goode of Salina in a very close points race that came down to the final event of the season.  Thayer recorded victories at the Konza Prairie Amateur in June, Senior Series Championship in September and teamed with Greg Goode to take the Kansas Four-Ball Masters Division title in June.  Thayer also posted top five finishes at the Kansas Senior Amateur, High Plains Amateur and the Railer Stroke Play Championship.  Thayer also was medalist at six Senior Series events and posted top ten finishes in seven others.  In the season ending Kansas Mid-Amateur, Thayer tied for low senior honors with Greg Goode to take the 2020 Kansas Senior Player of the Year crown by a slim 24 point margin over Goode. 


Women’s Players of the Year

Senior Women’s Player of the Year – Martha Linscott

Martha Linscott wasted no time garnering her first Senior Women’s Player of the Year Award after becoming eligible only this year.  Linscott has been an exceptional competitor in this area for many years having competed in 11 USGA Championships in her career, so this award is a fitting accomplishment. 

She opened the season with a strong finish in the Kansas City Women’s Match Play Championship against a field of mostly collegiate players, advancing to the quarterfinals.  She followed that performance with a 7th place finish at the Kansas Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.  She was the only senior golfer to make the cut at The Prairie Invitational, earning her first Low Senior award at that championship.  She cemented the award with her stellar play in September with a tie for 6th place at the North & South Senior Women’s Championship at Pinehurst, NC, and a victory at the Kansas Women’s Senior Championship at Manhattan CC.  Congratulations Martha!

Women’s Player of the Year – Audrey Judd

The Women’s Player of the Year points list was surprisingly dominated by mid-amateurs.  Audrey Judd of Olathe, Kansas narrowly edged fellow mid-amateur Katy Winters or Wichita, Kansas for the Player of the Year honors.

After taking a year off from competition after completing her collegiate eligibility at the University of Nebraska, Audrey Judd opened strong at the Kansas City Women’s Match Play.  She was the medalist in the stroke-play qualifying round and advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Kansas Women’s Mid-Amateur Champion, Carmen Titus, in the round of 16.  She just missed advancing to the semifinals with a 2&1 loss to active University of Kansas player and 2020 Missouri Women’s Amateur Champion, Abby Glynn.  She followed that performance with a T3 at the Kansas Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, earning a spot in The Prairie Invitational.  Her competition wrapped up with a Runner-Up performance at The Prairie Invitational in what was a very strong field of golfers including the best collegiate players and mid-ams from the entire region.  Congratulations Audrey!


Junior Players of the Year

Boys Player of the Year – Davis Cooper

The 2020 Junior Boys Player of the Year is Davis Cooper of Overland Park, Kansas. Cooper had a fantastic season that was highlighted by a victory in the Kansas City Junior Championship and Heart of America Four-Ball Championship with his partner Park Ulrich. Cooper finished runner-up in the Kansas Junior Amateur at Salina Municipal and finished as a quarterfinalist in both the KC Junior Match Play and Kansas Amateur Match Play Championship at Colbert Hills. He finished out his summer season as a pivotal member of the KS/NE Junior Cup team that defeated Nebraska at Prairie Dunes CC. We wish Davis all the best as he has joined the Kansas University’s Men’s Golf team this fall and embarks on his college golf career!

Girls Player of the Year – Julia Misemer

The 2020 Junior Girls Player of the Year is Julia Misemer of Overland Park, Kansas. Misemer had another strong season this year, winning the Kansas City Junior Championship at Swope Memorial and defending her 6A State Championship title at Hesston Golf Course by four shots. Misemer also placed tied for third at the 2020 North & South Junior Championship at Pinehurst and finished third at the Kansas Junior Amateur Championship. She capped off a great summer by qualifying for the 2021 Women’s Four-Ball Championship with partner Brooke Biermann and was an important member of the 2020 Mid-America Junior Cup team that recently retained the Cup against St. Louis. Julia is in her junior year of high school at Blue Valley West and we can’t wait to see what she does next season!

KC Retains Mid America Cup

The 22nd Mid-America Junior Cup took place in Lake St. Louis at Lake Forest Country Club this past weekend. A Ryder-Cup style format event in which the top juniors from Kansas City and St. Louis battle it out in match play to determine who wins the Cup.

KC has had the Cup since 2013 and was hoping to keep the Cup heading in to the weekend against a strong St. Louis team. In order to tie and retain the Cup, KC needed 8 of the 16 available points. St. Louis needed 8.5 points to win and keep the Cup in St. Louis.

Saturday consisted of morning Foursomes and afternoon Four-Ball matches. Foursomes (alternate shot) is typically the toughest session of the weekend with boys and girls teaming up for co-ed alternate shot. Team KC played well and took 2.5 points with two victories of Misemer/McCrary and McVey/Rinkol and a tie from Currier/Tarvin.

Heading in to Four-Ball, KC had a 2.5 to 1.5 lead. Four-Ball didn’t have the same success for KC, with St. Louis taking 3 out of the 4 points. KC’s lone victory came from Currier/McVey with a 2 and 1 victory. St. Louis held a 4.5 to 3.5 point lead heading in to Singles on Sunday.

Sunday singles is always exciting and this was no different. KC needed to take 4.5 points from singles in order to tie and keep the Cup in Kansas City. The 8 year streak was on the line and St. Louis proved to be quite the opponent.

KC got off to a quick start with two wins from Myles Tarvin (3 & 1) and Hillary Currier (6 & 5). KC and STL would split with a tie from Chance Rinkol and Bubba Chapman to add a half a point to each team, bringing the team totals to 6 to 5 in KC’s favor. Drew Nienhaus of STL followed with a win of her own over Libby Green to bring the teams’ total to 6 to 6. Julia Misemer defeated Brooke Biermann 4 & 3 to give KC another point and within one point to retain the Cup.

Maya McVey of KC would fall in a close and hard fought match to STL’s Rylie Andrews. KC and STL were tied 7 to 7 at this point with only two singles matches left to decide who would take the trophy. Ryan Walsh of STL defeated Michael Winslow 4 & 2 and KC’s only hope would come down to Ian McCrary’s singles match. Without a win from McCrary, KC would snap it’s streak.

Ian McCrary was 1 down heading in to 17th tee against Blake Skornia and needed to win the final two holes to win his match. After a tee shot that sat on the edge of a penalty area, McCrary was forced to pitch out in to the fairway. Skornia with a great drive and approach shot was on the green in two, facing a lengthy birdie putt. McCrary hit his approach shot on the green to about 15 feet for par. Skornia’s birdie putt ran past the hole and he faced a tough par putt coming back. McCrary, with a must-make par putt, sank the 15 footer to put pressure on Skornia. Skornia’s par putt would slide just by and we were heading to 18th tee.

Both players hit their tee shots to the right side of the fairway, just in the rough on a dog-leg left, par-5. McCrary’s second shot was hindered some by tree branches but he was able to hit an amazing punch shot that left him about 75 yards out. Ian followed with an even better approach shot in to the green that left about 5 feet for birdie. Skornia was putting for birdie from about 20 feet. His birdie putt would run past the hole on a tricky sloped 18th green, leaving some work left for par. Blake’s par putt missed the hole and McCrary just needed to two putt for the win. McCrary would do just that and par the hole to give KC the tie and bring the Cup back home!

It was an exciting competition and so proud of all the competitors and how hard they fought. Team KC battled and with a great team effort and Ian fighting until the last shot was able to retain the Cup for another year. We look forward to competing against St. Louis again next year, this time in Kansas City.

2020 Roster:

  • Michael Winslow – Overland Park, KS
  • Ian McCrary – Overland Park, KS
  • Julia Misemer – Overland Park, KS
  • Libby Green – Shawnee, KS
  • Myles Tarvin – Olathe, KS
  • Chance Rinkol – Leawood, KS
  • Maya McVey – Blue Springs, MO
  • Hillary Currier – Olathe, KS

Match Results can be seen here.

Kansas Defeats Nebraska 10.5 to 5.5 in KS-NE Junior Cup

The 2020 KS-NE Junior Cup took place at the one and only Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas and it was one for the books. After losing in 2018 and tying in 2019, Team Kansas was victorious and able to bring the trophy back home.

The Kansas-Nebraska Junior Cup Matches pit the top eight male juniors from Kansas against the same from Nebraska in Ryder Cup-style matches, with history dating back to 1986. The competition begins with Foursomes and Four-Ball matches and concludes with eight Singles matches. Each match is worth one point. The 2020 team consists of Lucas Scheufler, Blake Saffell, Cooper Schultz, Davis Cooper, Will Harding, Calvin Dillon, Ian McCrary, and Caleb Kimmel.

Team Kansas got off to a great start in the morning foursome matches on Wednesday. Lucas Scheufler and Blake Saffell took the first foursomes match 3 & 2 and Ian McCrary and Caleb Kimmel took the second match 4 & 2. Will Harding and Calvin Dillon were close behind with their own victory of 2 & 1. The final foursomes match went to 18 and after a bogey by Team Kansas, the match was tied and each team received a half a point. Kansas was leading 3.5 to .5 after the morning session.

In the afternoon four-ball matches, Kansas and Nebraska split 2 and 2. Scheufler/Saffell continued their momentum with another 3 and 2 win. McCrary/Kimmel also claimed another point for Kansas with a 2 and 1 victory. Schultz/Cooper fell in a close match 2 & 1 and Harding/Dillon fought through a toss 3 & 2 loss. Those two points were big in carrying team momentum and adding to the team total heading in to singles Thursday morning. Kansas led 5.5 to 2.5.

In morning singles, Kansas needed only 3 points to clinch the Cup. Schuefler got Kansas off to a quick start with a 6 & 5 victory in the first match of the day. Cooper Schultz added another point to Team Kansas with his 3 & 2 win. Sitting at 7.5 points, Kansas just needed one more match to clinch.

Nebraska tallied a point after Saffell lost a hard fought match 2 & 1. Davis Cooper ended his match on 15 green, not only winning his match 4 & 3 but clinching the victory for Team Kansas. The remaining singles matches continued on, and Kansas ultimately won two more matches from Kimmel and Harding, ending with a total of 10.5 points.

It was a great two days at Prairie Dunes Country Club and it was a great display of golf by our eight players. They played like a team and it was fun to watch. Congratulations to our five seniors on the team and good luck to them as they move on to college in a couple weeks.

We look forward to heading out to Nebraska in 2021 to defend!

Results >>

Photo Album >>

Groom, Kimmel, And Grant Emerge Victorious at Swope

Kansas City Senior/Junior Match Play Championship

The final day of the Kansas City Senior, Boys, and Girls Match Play Championships at Swope Memorial Golf Course provided three outstanding final matches.

In the Senior Match Play Championship, 11-seed Steve Groom defeated 5-seed Dave Cunningham in the final match: A match that went to extra holes. Tied after 18 holes, Steve and Dave went two more sudden death holes to decide the champion, ending with Steve Groom winning with a par on the second extra hole. Steve’s round was highlighted with early birdies on holes 1, 4, and 7 that propelled him to a fast start and eventually the victory.

In the Boys Match Play Championship, 4-seed Caleb Kimmel defeated 7-seed Chance Rinkol in the final match by a result of 3&2. Caleb, following an impressive 29 that he fired in yesterday’s semifinal match, came out strong this morning in the final match, winning his first four holes of the match and never looked back.

In the Girls Match Play Championship, 5-seed Elizabeth Grant defeated 3-seed Caroline Giocondo in the final match by a result of 4&2. Elizabeth won four of the last five holes on the front nine, giving her a 4UP lead that she never surrendered.

Thank you to Swope Memorial Golf Course and all of our volunteers who made these championships possible!

To view final results from the Senior Match Play Championship, click here.

To view final results from the Junior Match Play Championship, click here.


Day Two Recap:

After day two of the Senior, Boys and Girls Kansas City Match Play Championships, we have three championship matches that are sure to be action-packed on Sunday.

In the Senior Match Play Championship, the 11-seed Steve Groom defeated the 14-seed Kevin Rome Saturday morning with a result of 5&3, followed by a victory in the afternoon in the semifinals over the 2-seed Frank Hoback with a result of 4&3. The other remaining player in the Senior Match Play Championship is Dave Cunningham, who won his morning match 5&4 over Mark Addington, followed by a semifinal afternoon victory over Sean Thayer with a result of 4&3. The final match of the Senior Match Play Championship is tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM between Steve Groom and Dave Cunningham.

In the Boys Match Play Championship, the 4-seed Caleb Kimmel defeated the 5-seed Davis Cooper in the morning matches with a result of 3&2, followed by a victory in the afternoon in the semifinals over the 8-seed Will Harding with a result of 6&5, highlighted by an opening nine score of 29. The other remaining player in the Boys Match Play Championship is Chance Rinkol, who who his morning match 1 UP over the 15-seed Calvin Dillon, followed by a semifinal afternoon victory over Myles Tarvin with a result of 3&2. The final match of the Boys Match Play Championship is tomorrow morning at 7:38 AM between Caleb Kimmel and Chance Rinkol.

In the Girls Match Play Championship, the 5-seed Elizabeth Grant defeated the 4-seed Tess Roman Saturday morning with a result of 4&2, followed by a victory in the afternoon in the semifinals over the 1-seed Victoria Klausner with a result of 2 UP. The other remaining player in the Girls Match Play Championship is Caroline Giocondo, who won her morning match 6&5 over the 6-seed Ella Slicker, followed by a semifinal afternoon victory over the 2-seed Lia Johnson with a result of 2&1. The final match of the Girls Match Play Championship is tomorrow morning at 7:46 AM between Elizabeth Grant and Caroline Giocondo.

Kansas wins Junior Girls Four State for the first time in 19 years

Columbia, MO – The Junior Girls Four State Championship was played at Country Club of Missouri last week, July 1-2. The Kansas Team comprised of Julia Misemer, Allison Comer, Libby Green, Lia Johnson, Victoria Klausner, and Brooke King and Captains Baile Stephenson and Audrey Meisch took home the win after three rounds of match play. The format was 18-holes of Four-Ball matches followed by 9-holes of Foursome matches (shortened due to weather), and 18-holes of singles matches.

Kansas got off to an early lead winning two of three Four-Ball matches. Kansas continued to lead after earning 2.5 of the 3 points available in their Foursome matches.

“We had a strong team dynamic which lead to great success in the team matches,” said captain Baile Stephenson, “I’m impressed by how well the girls worked together and cheered each other on.”

The team also faired well in their singles matches. Kansas battled back and forth with Nebraska for the final points on the board. Julia Misemer won her singles match over Nebraska’s Danica Badura and Lia Johnson tied her match with Nebraska’s Nicole Kolbas. Most impressively, Brooke King won her match over Ellie Braksiek. King was 2 down going into hole 13 and won 5 holes in a row to finish 3&1. Libby Green got off to a fast start after she was 5 up through 5 holes against Rylee Heryford. Green eventually won her match 2&1.

View Full Results: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/2559354

Kansas is set to host the 2021 Four State, a site announcement will be made in the coming weeks.

Schultz Goes Back-to-Back, Tilma Wins First Junior Am

Cooper Schultz and Kate Tilma battled through windy conditions at Salina Municipal Golf Course over the three days of the Kansas Junior Amateur Championship, winning the Overall Boys and Girls titles, respectively.

The Kansas Junior Amateur Championship is a three-day event with a cut after two rounds to the top-15 and ties in each age division. After two rounds, Cooper Schultz found himself at 8-under par and never looked back, shooting a final-round 65 that included a stellar opening nine score of 31. Cooper Schultz finished the event with a three-day total of 13-under par (197). Schultz successfully defended his 2019 title, beating last year’s performance by 9 strokes.

Kate Tilma also got off to a quick start to the tournament, as she fired back-to-back under-par rounds of 69 and 67 in the first two rounds. Kate finished up her final round with a solid score of 72, which included a clutch birdie on the final hole, and finished the event with a three-day total of 2-under par (208). After finishing runner up in 2019, Tilma was able to break through for her first Junior Amateur win.

As far as each age division goes, the champion of each boys age division and their final score are listed below:

  • 14 and under: Chance Rinkol, 4-over par (214)
  • 15 years old: Ryder Cowan and Will King, 2-under par (208)
  • 16 years old: Ryan Lee, 2-under par (208)
  • 17 years old: Michael Winslow, 5-under par (205)
  • 18 years old: Cooper Schultz, 13-under par (197).

Thank you to Salina Municipal for hosting us and we hope to see everyone again in 2021. To see full results, please see here.

Misemer Defends, | Cooper Wins First Title

After two exciting days of golf at Swope Memorial Golf Course, The Kansas City Junior Championship ended with impressive scores from our juniors. In the Boys Division, Davis Cooper held the overnight lead and did not look back, firing a final round 70 en route to finishing 8-under for 36 holes and winning the Boys Division by 5 shots. When asked about his performance, Davis discussed his hot start in the first round and his solid play across the entire Championship: “I played well in basically every part of the game this week. Yesterday, I started hot and made some putts and carried that over into today where I was making more mid-range putts… it made it feel pretty easy for the most part.”

In a tie for second place in the Boys Division, Chance Rinkol and Ryan Lee had a solid two-day total of 3-under par. Chance fired a final round 70 and Ryan shot a final round 71.

In the Girls Division, Julia Misemer put on quite the show and successfully defended her title, as she won this event in 2019 and is now a back-to-back champion with winning the 2020 Championship. She also held an overnight lead and increased it as the day went on. Julia shot a final round 69, which put her at 5-under par for the Championship, a whole 13 shots ahead of second place. When highlighting key points in her tournament, she went back to her mindset as the first round began: “I three-putted the first two holes in the first round, so I was kind of down but then thought ‘let’s just come back and have a good round’ and then I ended up coming back… my putting kind of saved me in the end.”

In a tie for second place, Faith Hedges and Audrey Rischer had a two-day total of 8-over par, where they both improved on their first-round scores, shooting 74 and 75 in the final round, respectively.

To view final results from the 2020 Kansas City Junior Championship, click here: https://centrallinksgolf.org/competitions/2020-junior-golf-schedule/kc-junior-championship/


Day One Recap

On a warm summer day at Swope Memorial Golf Course, day 1 of the Kansas City Junior Championship provided some great scores from the boys and girls competing. The highlights from round one in the Boys division include a 6-under round of 66 fired by Davis Cooper that began with 4 birdies on his first 4 holes. Davis leads by 3 shots heading into round 2 over Ian McCrary, who fired a 3-under par round of 69 that started strong with a front-nine score of 32. In third, just behind Ian McCrary is Ryan Lee, who also had a fast start to his round after firing a front-nine score of 31 en route to a 2-under par round of 70.

In the Girls division, the round of the day went to Julia Misemer, who carded a 2-under round of 70 that included 6 birdies. Julia leads by 6 shots heading into round 2 over Maggie King, who shot a 4-over round of 76 that included 3 birdies. In third, just behind Maggie King is Audrey Rischer, who shot a 5-over round of 77.

Tomorrow is the final round of the Kansas City Junior Championship at Swope Memorial Golf Course, where we expect more great golf to come.

You can find pairings and results for the Kansas City Junior Championship here: https://centrallinksgolf.org/competitions/2020-junior-golf-schedule/kc-junior-championship/

Pictures from KC Junior Championship: https://kansasgolf.zenfolio.com/p643024375

Harding & Misemer Take Home KC Junior Titles

The 2019 Kansas City Junior Championship was one of a kind. After multiple days of missed classes due to extreme weather this winter, students had to extend the school year into the week of the KC Junior. Because of this, the tournament was played as a 3:30 shotgun start both days at Brookridge Golf & Fitness.

Boys Division

Our boy’s division, after day one, was highlighted by Michael Winslow shooting a 69 (-2). Winslow caught fire during his back nine going -4 during a five-hole stretch. Liam Coughlin was in sole possession of second place with a 70 (-1) with an impressive three-hole birdie streak on holes four-six.  After round one, four other players shot even par, all within striking range of the two leaders.

Round two was nothing short of exciting from our boy’s division with several players at the top of the leaderboard. One of those players within striking distance was Will Harding who shot 71 in the first round. Harding took advantage of the scorable conditions and started his round making birdies on the first five holes and finishing at 65 (-6). Harding’s two round of 71-65, 136 was good enough to claim the championship over Winslow 69-70, 139. Finishing up the leaderboard was Joe Bultman 71-69, 140 in third, Ian McCrary 69-72, 141 fourth, and Justin Wingerter 71-71, 142 and Nicklaus Mason 71-71, 142 tied for fifth.

Will Harding and Michael Winslow’s exceptional play was rewarded by getting an exemption into the 2019 Watson Challenge on June 21-23 hosted by The Nicklaus Golf Club at Lionsgate.

Girls Division

Our girl’s division was featured by the great play of Julia Misemer and Libby Green. The key hole during the first round was hole 11 with Misemer making a birdie and Green making a double bogey. Green (74) would overcome that three shot difference and take a one-shot lead after round one over Misemer (75). Lia Johnson would find herself 4 shots off the lead with a solid round of 78 carding 11 pars for the day.

Misemer and Green battled for the top of the leaderboard during the second day, which lead to a playoff. Green going into the day holding a one-shot lead, was tied with Misemer after the first hole. Green would find herself with a one-stroke lead again with just two holes remaining. However, Green went on to make bogey on 17th and Misemer making a par. Both made par the 18th hole and finding themselves in a tie for 1st (Misemer, 75-76, 151) (Green 74-77, 151). The playoff started on the 10th hole where Green made a bogey and Misemer made par to claim the 2019 Girl’s Junior Championship. Lia Johnson (78-79, 157) and Audrey Rischer (81-76, 157) tied for third place.

Misemer earned an exemption and paid entry fees into the 2019 Prairie Invitational. The Prairie Invitational will be held at The National Golf Club July 22-24.