The surgery and pain would have to wait a day.
Bren Fisher was going to finish the Kansas Junior Team Championship on Tuesday — torn knee cartilage and all.
“I barely made it through (Monday’s) round. It was really bothering me,” said Fisher, who played both days with a brace on his right knee. “I’m in a lot of pain, but I tried fighting through it.”
It turned out to be worth the discomfort, as Fisher and teammate Fletcher Harder combined to shoot a 142 to finish in a tie for fourth in the two-day team championship at the Emporia Municipal Golf Course.
Fellow Emporians Eric Reimer and Matt McAnarney finished in 16th with a combined score of 148.
Fisher, who was diagnosed with torn cartilage and scar tissue in his knee, is scheduled to have surgery today.
During the tournament, he wasn’t able to swing as hard on tee shots and instead had to give extra focus to accuracy.
“He stuck it out,” Harder said, “and I’m glad he did.”
After ending the first day in a tie for ninth, Fisher and Harder made up some ground Tuesday with a 2-over 73 in the alternate-shot format.
The pair couldn’t have started the day much better.
On Hole No. 1, Fisher drove the ball down the middle of the fairway, and Harder knocked it within four feet on his approach.
Fisher tapped in the putt for birdie.
“That really got us thinking, ‘Hey, we might have a shot today,’” Harder said.
The team was 1-under through nine holes before a one-hour rain delay.
With their momentum stalled — and also a slick course with steady rain still falling — Fisher and Harder struggled immediately after the break.
Following an early bogey, the pair double-bogeyed No. 12.
“We could have just folded the tent right there,” Harder said, “but we held it together.”
The two also changed their strategy: With the tough conditions, they both told each other to “just get pars.”
The philosophy ended up working, as they parred their final six holes.
“I felt like a 73 — in the rain with an alternate shot — was a pretty darned good score,” Fisher said.
Meanwhile, Reimer and McAnarney were hurt by the inability to hit short putts, finishing with a Day Two 78. The pair were tied for 12th entering Tuesday’s round.
“It’s tough. You want to get mad at yourself, but then you don’t want to get mad at your teammate,” Reimer said. “It was just frustrating because we couldn’t get into a rhythm.”
After posting a three-putt bogey on No. 8, the highlight for the pair came on par-5 ninth.
Reimer started with a tee shot that left McAnarney about 215 yards to the hole.
Using a hybrid club, McAnarney stuck the second shot to within 12 feet.
Reimer rolled the putt dead center for an eagle.
The pair struggled down the homestretch with the wet conditions.
“Alternate shot’s a hard game to play for us,” McAnarney said, “but we had fun.”
The team of Chase Chamberlin (Lawrence) and Curtis Yonke (Overland Park) won the championship with a combined score of 137 (5-under).
Emporia Junior Team Championship
Monday and Tuesday at Emporia Municipal
1 2 Tot.
Chase Chamberlin/Chris Yonke -5 63 74 137
Gordon Chang/Clarke Fry -4 67 71 138
Ben Lowman/Riley Piles -4 66 72 138
Elliot Soyez/Michael Gellerman Even 70 72 142
Bren Fisher/Fletcher Harder Even 69 73 142
Mason Dick/Spencer Scott Even 66 76 142
Tommy Kennedy/Chase Lucas Even 69 73 142
Nick Vonlintel/Trey Herman +1 67 76 143
Jeff Jarvis/Jeremy Gant +2 72 72 144
Sam Schulte/Jordan Esau +3 71 74 145
Clay Crawford/Brad Pfaltzgraff +4 69 77 146
Max Lazzo/Grant Burnside +5 70 77 147
Daniel Kunantaev /Joseph Winslow +5 68 79 147
Jackson Foth/Henry Simpson +5 70 77 147
Brandon Falley/Brian Walker +5 68 79 147
Eric Reimer/Matt McAnarney +6 70 78 148
Andrew Foulston/Eric Mode +7 71 78 149
Jack Cantele/Craig Howell +7 74 75 149
Hank Bayer/Tyler Norris +8 71 79 150
David Auer/Benjamin Hatfield +9 74 77 151
Benjamin Moser/Trey Siegel +9 73 78 151
Patrick Shaw/Steven Jablonowski +9 71 80 151
Jarret Tagtmeyer/Aaron Mapel +10 72 80 152
Evan Holcomb/Thane Ringler +10 71 81 152
C. Bechard/Jordan Ochsner +10 74 78 152
Matt Puhr/Andrew Chael +11 74 79 153
Randall Vautravers/Caleb Childs +12 75 79 154
Braxon Ball/Josh Beam +13 74 81 155
Jordan Lytton/Trey Hayden +13 73 82 155
Katie Morel/A.J. Morel +14 74 82 156
Andy Sellers/Sam Leiker +15 80 77 157
Kyle Manning/Connor Manning +16 75 83 158
Cade Canaday/Jake Pritchard +20 81 81 162
Alex Thompson/Tyler Kahn +26 82 86 168
Tyler Dort/Kevin Diehl +31 82 91 173
Zach Sanders/Jake Myron DQ 65 DQ DQ
Zim App/Steven Angles NC 75 NC NC
Devin Jackson/Matt Powell WD 78 WD WD
B. Stoppelmoor/Sean Connolly NC 83 NC NC