Josh Knickman picked the right time for a career-best round.
Platte County ultimately didn’t have the collective scores to unseat Grain Valley in the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on Monday at Hoots Hollow Golf Course in Pleasant Hill. The Eagles grabbed another team title with all five players in the top seven.
However, Knickman — part of a collection of Platte County juniors vying for playing time — shot a 3-over 75 and tied for second overall. He repeated as an all-conference selection, along with sophomore Braden Hendee (sixth, 79), and the Pirates shot a season-low 330 as a team to finish second for a second straight year.
Grain Valley won the conference title with a 295 behind individual medalist Charlie Aldred, who a shot a 40-under 68.
“We had a very good day today,” Platte County coach Trevor Short said. “The team was focused and determined to finish well at this tournament. We had some confidence going into the match after some good practice the week before and it showed in the results. We are starting to peak at the right time and hopefully will continue this.”
Platte County used nine different players in the varsity lineup at some point this season but seem to have settled on a top-five for the final two guaranteed competitions.
In addition to Knickman and Hendee, Platte County junior Josh Gentilia went from honorable mention last year to all-conference this season, tying for ninth with an 87. He tied for 11th as a sophomore with the top 10 earning medals. All five of the Pirates’ players finished in the top 15 with freshman Brayden Renno (89, 11th) and junior Evan Sedlacek 93, tied 13th) also earning honorable mention honors in their conference debut.
A seventh-place finisher last year as a sophomore, Knickman turned in an especially impressive back nine with eight pars and just a single bogey at No. 18. He also made birdie at No. 9.
Hendee made up for a double bogey on the par-5 fourth with a birdie at No. 6 — a par three. He moved up the leaderboard after taking the last all-conference spot as a freshman.
Sedlacek birdied the fifth but ran into trouble on the backside, recording just one par. Gentila’s best hole came at No. 9, a birdie on the par five. Renno finished with six pars.
Platte County now turns attention to Monday’s Class 4 District 4 tournament on The Posse Course at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville. The Pirates now seem to have the preferred five with three players back from last year’s sixth-place finisher in the 12-team field.
This year, the top two teams in the standings automatically qualify their top four players for the Class 4 MSHSAA Golf Championships. 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 advance to state tournament but do not count toward the total of 13 individuals not from the qualifying teams that also go to state.
In last year’s district tournament, Hendee shot an 18-over 90 — six strokes off the state cutline — while Knickman came in with a 92 and Gentila a 93.
Platte County’s only other 18-hole tournament on the district course resulted in a team score of 380, although Knickman did not play in the Northland Invitational. Prior to conference, the Pirates’ best team score had been a 345.
“We don’t have a great history with this course, but we are confident that we play at our most competitive levels,” Short said.
