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Creek Valley takes second in MAC tournament; Godfrey's conference winning streak ends as Storm star fires 83 under difficult conditions
Wind whipped through the MAC tournament on Thursday. It forced drives to veer sharply into the trees. It stalled approach shots lofted toward the green. And it caused golfers to doubt each and every decision.
There was, however, one consolation.
"It was good to your back," Creek Valley's Wyatt McMillan reported.
The Storm finished the day in second place behind a solid Bayard lineup. Lane Godfrey led the squad with an 83, taking third on the leaderboard by winning the tiebreaker over the Tigers' Trae Blanco. Alex Dexter, on the JV roster for this event, and Wyatt McMillan also carded top tens for Creek Valley.
Potter-Dix's lone golfer, Austin Lewis, ended up with a 169 on the trying day.
Scores in the low 80s were an achievement, as was the winning 77 round put in by Roman Konvicka, a Czech exchange student for Bayard.
Konvicka was solid all day in the Tigers' number two slot. Hearing of his scores, Creek Valley's Godfrey--a two time conference winner--said while walking the 12th fairway "I feel my three-peat slipping away."
Godfrey fired a 39 on the front side, with birdies on 5 and 6, well as several one-putts, before slipping five strokes after the turn.
"I'm happy with my score," he said. "It would be better if my approach shots were better. Putting saved me today."
Dexter carded a 98 despite finding the water three times.
"That's what I was going for," he explained. "I needed to stay out of the 100s."
McMillan was on his way to a top five finish, stroking a 42 on the front nine. But with the win against him, things began to unravel. On 17, he took an 11 after smacking trees on consecutive shots.
"Seventeen killed me," he observed. "I was facing forward and the wind caught it."
When the steady gale bedeviling Kimball's Four Winds Golf Course gusted from behind, shots sailed yards further than normal. But the fierce crosswinds on 13 and other holes caused a number of balls to curl out of bounds.
Cory Phillips fought back from a double-digit score on 16. He shrugged and called the 106 round "pretty decent" under the circumstances.
Joe Van Winkle suffered a 13 on 13 after launching two windswept drives out of bounds.
"The rest of it was good," he said of the day. "The wind just irritated me, got me thinking about it."
Brett Godfrey lost four strokes on the difficult back nine, winding up at 104.
"I should have had low 90s," he explained, comparing his round to a calm day. "You just had to play it low."
The Storm are back in action on Monday, when they host the Creek Valley Invitational.
MAC Tournament, Kimball
Team Totals
Bayard 331
Creek Valley 392
South Platte 477
Garden County 440
Potter-Dix NTS
Top Ten
Roman Konvicka, Bayard 77
Joe Hernandez, Bayard 82
Lane Godfrey, Creek Valley 83
Trae Blanco, Bayard 83
David Schuler, Bayard 89
Ethan Marker, Bayard 96
Alex Dexter, Creek Valley 98
Wyatt McMillan, Creek Vally 99
McLain Beck, Garden Co. 100
Manny Acosta, Bayard 100
Creek Valley
Lane Godfrey 83
Wyatt McMillen 99
Brett Godfrey 104
Cory Phillips 106
Joe Van Winkle 122
Potter-Dix
Austin Lewis 169
Creek Valley JV
Alex Dexter 98
Ben Cabela 122
Austin Rowley 129
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