The Emporia High boys golf team no longer feels like an afterthought heading into today’s State tournament in Wichita.
That’s what winning back-to-back postseason tournament titles will do for a team’s confidence.
The Spartans teed off at Auburn Hills Golf Course in Wichita at 8:30 this morning fully expecting to be in the hunt for the State title, especially considering EHS is coming off winning both the Class 5A Regional and Centennial League titles in the last week.
“I think before Regionals and before League, we weren’t really being mentioned that much as a team that could win it (a State title),” junior Bren Fisher said. “After we showed what we can do at Regionals and League, it has really boosted everyone’s confidence on the team, and we showed they we’re definitely capable of doing it.”
In winning the Regional title over Shawnee Heights by 15 strokes last Monday, Emporia saw Fisher card the low round of the day individually with an even-par 71 at the Emporia Municipal Golf Course to lead the six-member EHS squad of Fisher, Fletcher Harder, Jared Johnson, Matt McAnarney, Eric Reimer and Zach Young to its best score of the season (301). All six of Emporia’s golfers carded rounds under 83.
At the Centennial League tournament at the Shawnee Country Club on Tuesday, it was Harder who stepped up for the Spartans, winning the individual title by shooting a 1-over 72 to lead Emporia past Manhattan — a team Emporia had lost to several times this season — by three strokes.
While the scores were not as low as they were at the Regional, Emporia still benefited from its top four rounds coming in at 83 or lower, which was just enough to clip perennial 6A-power Manhattan.
“You should be getting increasingly better throughout the year. You’re practicing more,” Harder said. “At the end of the year, you should be playing at your best.”
But the stakes go up sharply at the State tournament.
To win the 5A State championship, the Spartans will have to contend with Auburn Hills, rated as one of the top public golf courses in the state.
The challenge at Auburn Hills comes in the form of two very different course layouts from the front nine to the back nine. The front nine is laid out in more of a links style with high grass lining the fairways and numerous bunkers scattered about, while the back nine presents a challenge in that a lot of out-of-bounds areas exist because of the course’s path through a housing development. Also, 14 of the 18 holes feature some type of water hazard.
“It’s going to be quite a challenge,” EHS coach Rick Eckert said, “because it’s like playing two different courses on the same day depending on which nine you’re on. Hopefully we’ll be able to adapt to it.”
There is no doubting, though, that the Emporia High players see themselves as a legitimate threat to win the State title. Eckert listed teams like St. Thomas Aquinas, Bishop Carroll, Kapaun Mt. Carmel and Bishop Miege as four teams most capable of taking the championship.
The last week obviously has the EHS players excited about the opportunity that has presented itself today. Fisher even went as far as to say, “I’d be disappointed if we didn’t get top 3.”
But, Eckert said, the focus should not be on winning the title as much as it should be about having fun while competing.
“I think they’ve got their heads on straight,” Eckert said. “I’m more nervous about them putting too much pressure on themselves. When we came out here for Regionals and when we went to the League tournament, we were very relaxed going into both of those. That’s what concerns me, is that we’ll start to go, ‘Oh my gosh, we might have a chance to win State.’
“The thing is, you can’t do that. You just have to go out and play it hole by hole and see what happens. I want them to have fun.
“This is the reward for the hard work that they’ve put in this season,” he added, “and if something great happens, that’s wonderful.”