Nothing certain in today’s 1A golf tournament

    One thing that is almost certain in golf is that there is almost nothing certain in golf.
    Take today's Class 1A boys golf state tournament at Dodge City Country Club.
    The defending state champion Quivira Heights Thunderbirds return five golfers from last year and would probably be the favorites to repeat. But the T-Birds hit a little bump in the road, finishing second to Goessel by a stroke in windy conditions at last week's regional tournament at the Kinsley Country Club. Goessel shot 382 to Quivira Heights' 383.
    Experience in pressure situations might have counted for something when the T-Birds tied Pretty Prairie and Olpe in last year's state tournament and won on the fifth player score. Nathan White and Addison Swain finished in the top 10 in 2007 — White was sixth and Swain eighth.
    Quivira Heights also returns Kyle Montoya, Jarod Behnke and Isaac White.
    Although Goessel didn't make the state tournament as a team in 2007, the Bluebirds do have two golfers who played as individuals in last year's state meet: Cameron Voth and Nathan Ensz. Both shot 91 on Kinsley and finished second and third, respectively.
    Argonia's Leander Green won the Kinsley regional.
    Quinter also beat Hoxie by a stroke in their regional, and both teams will also be challenging for the state title, as well as Greeley County. Quinter shot 352, while Hoxie shot 353 and Greeley County was third at 355.
    The Bulldogs won the regional because of an 85 by Brady Reed (seventh place in the regional), and with four scores between 85 and 90. Tim Roesch was ninth at 88, Ethan Ziegler shot 89 and Zach Woolf shot 90.
    Hoxie also had four golfers shoot 90 or below and will be led by Kevin Moss (eighth at his regional with an 87). Casey Helm and Patrick Eland each shot rounds of 88, and Troy Ostmeyer shot 90. Keith Slattery led Greeley County with third place at the regional with an 81, and Grant Bergner was sixth at 83.
    Two area teams qualified for the state tournament from the South Gray regional. Greensburg won the regional with a 393, four shots better than runner-up Ness City. South Central finished third in the regional at 398.
    Andrew Seiler will be leading the Rangers after finishing second in the individual standings with an 84, two shots behind Ness City's Weston Vogel. Kekoa Mendenhall was third individually with an 85.
    Leavenworth Immaculata is the fourth regional champion in the state meet, winning by 25 strokes in the Linn regional with a 385. Derek Kooser led the Raiders with an 81 to win the individual title by 10 strokes.
    The individual title could be a two-man affair from the same regional. Landon Stephens of Grainfield-Wheatland-Grinnell shot 74 in the Hoxie regional, two shots better than Brewster's Jance McKee. No other golfer shot below 80 in any of the four regionals.
    Tee times start at 8:30 a.m. on the country club's Holes 1 and 10. The final group, consisting of all four individual regional champions, will tee off No. 1 at 10:40 a.m.