Tipton golfers dominate District 6

VERSAILLES — Twelve teams brought out their clubs for the Class 1, District 6 golf tournament at Rolling Hills Country Club in Versailles on Wednesday. 

At the end of the day, the Tipton Cardinals continued their dominance of golf in west-central Missouri by capturing the title and advancing to state play where they will try to defend last season’s state championship.

The Cardinals easily outdistanced second place Sacred Heart 314-362. The Lincoln Cardinals finished third with 389, followed by Drexel, Stover, Archie, Windsor, Russellville, Smithton, Green Ridge, Concordia and Concordia St. Paul Lutheran.

Tipton coach Danny Dick, who has coached the Cardinals to three of their four state team titles, saw his team’s depth pay off as the top four Tipton golfers all finished in the top seven in scoring.

“I was pleased with how they played,” Dick said. “They’ve been playing that way all year long.”

Three golfers tied for medalist honors, shooting a 74. Trey Allison of Tipton, Jaron Lucchesi of Sacred Heart, and Josh Sadler of Windsor, all veterans of state play, set the pace for the others on the course.

Dick was not sure if Allison’s strong showing was a good sign for the upcoming state tournament or not. Last year, Allison shot a 90 and was the fourth scorer for the Cardinals, but played well at state and finished in the top eight.

Noah Kelley shot a 76 for Tipton, followed by teammates Andrew Huhmann and David Romig with 82, and Issac Garber with 92.

Sadler was the lone state qualifier for Windsor, but he should be comfortable returning to that venue. Last season he finished in a tie for second, just two strokes behind the state champion.

Sacred Heart had two others in addition to Lucchesi qualify for state, Will Register and Garret Kelchner. Lincoln also had more than one golfer qualify as 

Jacob Bancroft finished fifth and Buddy Dill ended up tied for 11th place.

Three other Kaysinger Conference schools will send individual representatives to the state tournament. Matt Lenz of Green Ridge, Cody Williams of 

Smithton, and Ethan Shackleford of Stover will all get a chance to pursue a state title when they head to Springfield for state play.

Steven Culbertson of Chilhowee, Kody Kaufman of Drexel, and Adam Distler of Russellville rounded out the list of individual qualifiers from District 6.