Sidney golfers struggle at home in Districts

Despite mostly ideal playing conditions at Hillside Golf Course, scores were generally high as the Sidney High School boys golf team missed qualifying for state by seven strokes with a fourth-place finish at the District B-4 tournament on Monday.

Scottsbluff won the district title with a total of 317 strokes with McCook finishing second with 334. Gering was the final team to make the state field at 352. The Raiders fourth-place total was 359.

"It's pretty disappointing especially when you consider we were playing on our home course," said Red Raiders' head coach Chuck Christensen. "But the one thing I'm proud of is how these kids handled themselves all year. They went about things the right way and represented Sidney extremely well."

Senior Koy Potthoff of Scottsbluff was the individual medalist with a 74, while teammate Jared Pilkington was second at 76. Three players – Noah Hoffman of McCook, Jayden Stack of Chadron and Jonah Wright of Scottsbluff – all finished with five-over par 77s.

The Raiders top two scores were turned in by sophomore Nate Dvorak and freshman Connor Dormann, who both carded an 86. Brady Radcliffe shot 90, Ryan Birner a 97 and Jake Burke 100.

"It wasn't a great day, but it's not the end of the world either," Christensen said. "The best thing is these guys will all be back. And we have some good freshmen coming up too. If they all come out this summer and practice we could have a strong team next season."

Dormann was the first of the Raiders to tee off at 10 a.m. His round started out well before he began to struggle toward the latter part of the front nine. His struggles culminated in a triple bogey on the ninth hole. He rallied on the back side to post a 40 after his ball striking heated up.

"When I was struggling, I was leaving the club face open and it was going right on me," Dormann said. "Once I got that figured out, things got a lot better. My ball striking was really good today."

Dormann did not miss any greens over his final four holes. He was stymied only by a three-putt bogey on the par-4, 17th hole.

Dvorak opened his day with a bogey despite two picture-perfect shots into the green. After blowing his first putt several feet by the hole, he missed a tricky downhill putt coming back. Dvorak finished his front with a 41 and carded a 45 on the back.

"I'm obviously disappointed for myself and the team," Dvorak said. "I wish we could have done better. It was a rough day, but you have to take the bitter with the sweet. I'm already looking forward to next year even though I've just finished my round. We've got all our guys coming back and there are some good freshmen coming up also."

Radcliffe began his round with a 41 on the front, but struggled to a 49 on the back side. Birner's day opened on a bad note when his drive went short left off the first tee. Fearing a lost ball, Birner hit a provisional. Though he found his original tee shot, he ended with a triple bogey on the par-4 first. Burke played to even nines of 50.

CLASS B-4 DISTRICT RESULTS

Hillside Golf Course, Sidney

Par 36-36-72

Team Scores

*1. Scottsbluff 317

*2. McCook 334

*3. Gering 352

4. Sidney 359

5. Chadron 367

6. Cozad 371

7. Gothenburg 373

8. Lexington 379

9. Broken Bow 388

10. Alliance 391

11. Holdrege 402

12. Ogallala 420

*denotes state qualifying teams

Individual State Qualifiers

1. Koy Potthoff (12) Scottsbluff 74

2. Jared Pilkington (11) Scottsbluff 76

3. Noah Hoffman (11) McCook 77

4. Jayden Stack (11) Chadron 77

5. Jonah Wright (11) Scottsbluff 77

6. Brian McMahon (12) Lexington 80

7. Patrick Messersmith (11) Gothenburg 82

8. Masen Sis (11) McCook 83

9. Austin Reynolds (12) Broken Bow 84

10. Anthony Hare (11) Alliance 85

10. Alex Lupher (12) Gering 85

Sidney Individual Scores

Nate Dvorak 86

Connor Dormann 86

Brady Radcliffe 90

Ryan Birner 97

Jake Burke 100