Trevor Short continues to embrace the competition in a deep lineup while still searching for a complete team performance with time running out an unfortunately short season.
While taking time to honor roster’s only two seniors, Platte County’s veteran coach received an encouraging performance from a freshman newcomer in a home dual Wednesday at Shiloh Springs Golf Course against Park Hill, which recorded the win with at team score of 142. The Pirates totaled a 157 with junior Braden Hendee leading the way with a 3-over 37 and sophomore Brayden Renno right behind with a 4-over 38 in a bounceback from an off round in an 18-hole tournament two days earlier.
Platte County freshman Jack Dillingham continued a push to claim the fifth spot in the lineup along with four returners expecting to lead a strong season. He shot a 40, while Josh Knickman and Josh Gentilia, the Pirates’ two seniors, rounded out the team score with matching 42s.
“The team played pretty well today against a pretty tough team,” Short said. “We are seeing some more movement on the roster with a few younger players starting to work their way up. We like seeing the competitiveness of the players pushing each other to keep working on their skills to become better players. We have all the ingredients to put together some quality numbers, (but) we all need to be on on the same day to accomplish that task.”
So far the potential shows in flashes with no top-to-bottom consistency for a lineup with three returning state qualifiers.
Hendee and Renno have both played in the lineup the majority of their careers after earning spots during breakout freshmen seasons. Knickman has mostly played in the No. 2 role for Platte County the past two years while finishing out his third as a regular in the top five. Gentilia spent much of the past two years in and out of the varsity rotation but did earn a spot in last year’s postseason lineup and has been a full-time starter as a senior.
However, Short has used nine different players in the lineup this season with Dillingham taking advantage of multiple recent opportunities.
Klint Andrews Memorial Invitational
Platte County finished 18th in the final standings with a team total of 342 on Monday at Fred Arbanas Golf Course in Kansas City.
Hendee led the way with an 11-over 83 but finished tied for 51st in a deep field that produced a large amount of low scores. Knickman (84, tied for 56th), Gentilia (87, tied for 72nd) and Dillingham (88, tied for 77th) rounded out the Pirates score. Renno shot a 93 and tied for 98th in his return to the lineup after missing the previous quad due to a conflict with FBLA state.
“This was not quite the round that we were looking for today,” Short said. “The weather was great for golf with a little sogginess around the course from the recent rains. We just couldn’t get things consistently rolling in our favor. There were a lot of great shots and a few not so great shots out on the course. We just have to get everything fine tuned as we head into the postseason events soon.”
Platte County continues to chase the season-best of 333 in a traditional 18-hole tournament recorded at the Darren Floyd Memorial Tournament at Tiffany Greens. The Pirates have a bush week in the final preparation for this year’s postseason, starting Monday in the Kearney Invitational at Excelsior Springs and continuing with the Highway 92 Showdown on Wednesday in Smithville and the Liberty Invitational on Friday.
Those will be the final competitions ahead of the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on Monday and next Wednesday’s Class 4 District 4 tournament, which will decide the state qualifiers.
A year ago, Platte County nearly qualified the team for state, but an incorrectly signed scorecard disqualified Gentilia and drastically affected the team score. Instead, Knickman, Hendee and Renno made individual debuts in the Class 4 MSHSAA Golf Championships.
