Emporia High's Fletcher Harder tees off during the Emporia High Invitational on Monday. Harder took second individually, and the Spartans placed second as a team behind Manhattan.
It wasn’t that Emporia High’s Fletcher Harder was unhappy with a second-place individual finish at Monday’s Emporia High Invitational, or that the Spartans as a team finished second as well.
It’s just that he expected more out of himself, and his team.
“Even though I got second, I’m not really satisfied with that,” Harder said after carding a 1-under 70 to claim the runner-up finish at the Emporia Municipal Golf Course. “I’m pretty disappointed with the way I finished.”
Though Harder put together one of just two rounds under par on the day, it was the way he closed out the tournament that left him wanting more.
He was 2-under heading into the final three holes, but had to settle for par on the par-5 16th hole after reaching the fringe of the green in two shots, then he bogeyed the 17th hole to slip to 1-under.
“That’s what cost me,” Harder said, referring to the fact that Manhattan’s Ben Lowman won the individual title with a 2-under 69.
Add in that the Spartans placed second as a team behind Manhattan, and it didn’t exactly sit right with Harder, seeing as how EHS was the State runner-up in Class 5A last season and returned its top four players.
“We haven’t been playing very well,” Harder said. “We haven’t played as a team really the whole year. We’ve had a couple good scores every time out, but we haven’t put four good scores together as a team.”
Still, the Spartans have reason to be optimistic.
Not only was the loss to Manhattan in the team standings not such a bad thing — Manhattan is one of the top teams in Class 6A — EHS placed three golfers in the top 10, including Harder.
Eric Reimer put together a round of 74 to tie for fifth place with Manhattan’s Jim Daniels.
After what he called a “shaky start” to his day, a birdie on his sixth hole of the tournament turned things around for Reimer enough to finish 3-over.
“I started rough, but things picked up for me in the middle, and I closed it out pretty strong,” Reimer said. “After I got that birdie, things kind of started rolling for me.”
Bren Fisher was the third Spartan in the top 10, finishing with a 5-over 76 to tie for eighth. However, a triple-bogey on his final hole prevented Fisher from finishing in the top five with Harder and Reimer.
Zach Young shot a 79 to round out Emporia’s team score at 299, 11 strokes back of Manhattan (288). Hayden was third (321) and Seaman was fourth (325), while the Southern Lyon County team — made up of students from Olpe and Hartford — placed fifth (370).
Tommy Smith led the way for the Southern Lyon County squad, carding a 78.
Emporia’s JV team came in sixth, led by the round of 89 carded by Craig Morgan.
Emporia now has a week off before returning to the Municipal Course for the Class 5A Regional next Monday. The Spartans are the defending champions.
“I think we’re excited to get this week of practice in here,” Harder said, “so we can get ourselves ready for Regionals and State.”
Emporia Invitational
Monday at EMGC
Team Scores
1. Manhattan 288, 2. Emporia I 299, 3. Hayden 321, 4. Seaman 325, 5. Southern Lyon County 370, 6. Emporia II 398.
Top 10 Placers
1. Ben Lowman, Man, 69; 2. Fletcher Harder, Emp, 70; 3. Clarke Fry, Man, 72; 4. Gordy Chang, Man, 73; T5. Eric Reimer, Emp, 74; T5. Jim Daniels, Man, 74; 7. Kurt Walker, Hay, 75; T8. Nick Agnew, Sea, 76; T8. Rob Carlson, Sea, 76; T8. Bren Fisher, Emp, 76.
Other EHS Finishers
Matt McAnarney 86, Craig Morgan 89, Spencer Anderson 91, Jared Parks 101, Larkin Bennett 102, Zach Hill 106, Marcus Jamison 110.
Southern Lyon County Finishers
Tommy Smith 78, Chad Schmidt 94, Colby Gardner 99, Glen Haag 99, Storm Cartee 114, Jacob Kehres 118.
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