Platte County finally sees success on troublesome course, qualifies 3 for state

Trevor Short spent all season guiding a senior-less and mostly inexperienced lineup on a path designed to maximize postseason success.

The strategy worked for Platte County’s veteran coach and resulted in an almost unassailable peformance in Monday’s Class 4 District 4 tournament on the Posse Course at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville. The Pirates played there multiple times in competitive situations and practice rounds to familiarize the players with 18 holes that have historically been troublesome to the program.

Platte County placed fourth in the final team standings, and sophomore Braden Hendee (sixth), junior Brayden Renno (tied seventh) and junior Josh Knickman (tied 18th) made the individual cut for the Class 4 MSHSAA Golf Championships, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau. However, the Pirates were a signed incorrect scorecard away from qualifying as a team.

The mistake nullified junior Josh Gentilia’s 14-over 86 and disqualified him from the tournament.

“Well, this was a hard one to take,” Short said. We practiced hard for the last few weeks focusing on getting more comfortable on ‘The Posse’ and the results were there. On a brighter note, three out of five are going to state for the first time in their young careers. All three players have put a lot of work into the off season and season to prepare for yesterday and it paid off big.”

Platte County placed sixth as a team last year with only Parker Amos advancing to state. He graduated as a three-time qualifier, and the Pirates went into the season with four players having a partial year of varsity experience.

Hendee ascended to the top spot in the lineup and carded the low score at nearly every tournament and dual for Platte County, but he didn’t debut on varsity until midway through his freshman season. In addition, Knickman, Gentilia and Ben Gillilan are part of a junior class that also includes Evan Sedlacek, who eventually earned a spot in the top five and mad the conference and postseason roster.

Short played nine different players at points of this season before settling in on a lineup including Renno that finished second at the Suburban Conference White Division Championships and carried momentum and confidence into districts.

“This winter it was not uncommon to see these players in the simulator room and even when it was not the greatest weather they would be out practicing,” Short said. “We are so proud of each of the players and how they pushed each other to make our team better.”

However, the Posse Course continued to challenge Platte County’s players regardless of experience.

Hendee shot a 12-over 84, and Renno joined him as an all-district performer with a career-best round of 13-over 85. He shot 96 in his only other 18-hole tournament at Paradise Pointe in his freshman season.

That improvement plus a 91 from Knickman, who has played at a No. 2 level for much of the past two seasons, helped the Pirates make a push in the team standings. Gentilia’s 86 would have given Platte County a team score of 342 — five shots better than runnerup Kearney.

However, Gentilia signed a scorecard that didn’t match his official strokes, and Sedlacek’s 106 rounded out the team score.

“It was not intentional, but it was an error,” Short said. “Unfortunately, this error was costly and had unfortunate results. Nobody wanted to have to enforce the penalty, but these are the rules of the game and our integrity as golfers will not allow us to waver from the rules. It is a tough lesson, but a lesson that was learned by just more than one player or team.”

Still, Platte County posted the best team finish since the state went to five classes with four districts each for the 2021 season. The Pirates nearly earned the first team state berth since placing fourth in Class 3A in 2001.

Even if Gentilia helped earn one of the team berths, Platte County would have only sent four golfers. The top two teams in the standings automatically qualify the top four individuals for state. If an advancing team’s fourth and fifth player score is a tie or the fifth player finishes within 10 strokes of the individual cutline, those players also go but do not count toward the total of 13 individuals not from the qualifying teams that also go to state.

Sedlacek tied for 41st and ended up 13 shots off the eventual cutline and would have been 14 back had Gentilia not been disqualified.

Hendee, Renno and Knickman will all make their state debuts next week with hopes of joining an exclusive list of just three all-state golfers in program history, including former individual champion Barrett Martens. The Pirates have gone more than two decades without a top-15 finisher but have an opportunity to continue building up experience with every player on the roster potentially returning next season.