Men's golf takes fifth at Districts; qualifies for nationals
By Mike Pilosof
Gothenburg, NE-That slow start to the 2019 season seems like a long time ago.
Garden City shot 15-over par, good for fifth place at the District III Championships at Wild Horse Golf Course, qualifying for the National Tournament. It's the first time since 2015 that the Broncbusters punched their ticket to the season's biggest event (In 2017 they automatically qualified because they hosted).
"It means a lot; it really does," Head Coach Phil Terpstra said. "We've come a long way. There was a point during the season that I didn't think we could put it together. But things have definitely changed."
George Avgousti tallied his best day of the spring, shooting 2-under for the tournament and finishing third individually. His teammate Shaydon Johnson tied for 10th at 1-over. He shot rounds of 73 and 72.
"I made the putts that I needed to make," Johnson said. "Before the tournament, I put in a lot of hard work on the greens."
Avgousti got off to a rough start, bogeying the first hole. But he rebounded with a par and three birdies, and was 2-under through the first nine. On the back, he bogeyed the first hole again before rebounding with three straight pars and a birdie, finishing 2-under in the opening round.
"George really put a nice round together," Terpstra said. "He's really worked to get to this point."
In round two, Avgousti shot even through the front and was 1-over through the first four on the back. That was until he birdied 15 and 17 before bogeying the final hole to finish at even par.
"This performance tells a lot about our team," Avgousti said.
It definitely stands out, considering their best golfer all year, Jake Bay, had one of his worst days of the season, shooting 12-over.
"We definitely owed Jake this performance today," Avgousti said. "We had to be better, and we were. He's been carrying us all year."
Johnson picked up his teammate as well, bouncing back from a 2-over start on the front nine in round one, to finish even. He shot 1-over through the opening round; was even through the front nine in the second and had a huge birdie on 17 to finish even.
"I followed Shaydon for most of the day," Terpstra said. "There was a point where he was like 3-under; then 3-over. But he really stayed with it."
Vincent Wilhelm tied for 21st at 5-over, and Evan McBridge equaled Bay at 12-over and finished 33rd.
"We have a chance to play at nationals," Avgousti said. "It's a chance to go out with a bang in my final year."
Indian Hills won the team title, followed by Hutchinson, Iowa Western and Dodge City. The Broncbusters finished with a team score of 299.
The National Tournament is set for May 14-17 at Duran Golf Club in Melbourne, FL.