Sidney sixth, Petik in medal position after first day

While the weather took the headlines at the Class A and C state golf tournaments yesterday, the players took center stage in Class B.

Despite 29 mile per hour winds, with gusts up to 36 and nearly a half an inch of rain, 70 players from around Nebraska completed the first day of the Class B State Golf Championships at Holmes Golf Course in Lincoln.

Six players from Sidney made the trip to including one alternate.

After 18 holes of play Sidney sits sixth in the team competition out of the 12 teams involved. The Raiders came in with a 386 total while leader Beatrice carded a 354. Elkhorn South is just five strokes behind at 359 and Scottsbluff third with a 367.

The Raiders Rachel Petik handled the difficult weather conditions better than most as she put herself into contention for an individual medal. Her 88 over the 5,788-yard par 74 course has her in 11th place going into Tuesday's second round. The top 15 individual players will earn medals.

"My goal was just to set myself up to have an opportunity tomorrow," Petik said after her round Monday. "So far I'm where I want to be."

In Addition to Petik, the other Raiders scores included Jessica Campbell (98), Katelin Cole (100), Karson Langley (100) and Theda Parker (115). Sophmore Megan Neal made the trip as an alternate.

At the top of the individual leaderboard is Lauren Pelster of Omaha Duchesne Academy with an 80. She played in a threesome with Cole. Megan Vetrovsky, who won the B4 District Tournament with a 72 at Alliance last week, was second at 81. Nicole Barmettler (83) of Elkhorn South, Kristen Beale (84) a freshman from Beatrice and Jacy Hawk (85) of Gretna rounded out the top five.

Depite the cancellation of round-one play in Norfolk (Class A) and Columbus (Class C), the girls at Lincoln soldiered on through the cold, wind and rain. Weather aside, all tee times went off as scheduled beginning at 9:30 a.m. At 1:45 p.m., however, the horn sounded to bring all players off the course when a strong thunderstorm cell rolled through.

The delay lasted only an hour as the girls resumed play at 2:45.

Though Petik's front nine was sidetracked by three double bogeys, she still managed to finish with a 45. She parred only one hole on the back side, the 10th, but a birdie on 15 helped her come in with a 43.

"There's a lot of strokes I'd like to have back," Petik said. "The wind didn't effect my swing any, which is kind of sad because I can't blame any of my bad shots on the wind."

Upon hearing Petik's comments, Raiders Coach Jody O'Connell said, "(Rachel) doesn't have to have any back. She'll get them tomorrow."

Petik nodded affirmatively.

As for round two, Petik is just thankful that the weather forecast is dry. When players begin teeing off at 9:30, temperatures are expected to be in the high 40s with winds from the west-northwest at 23 mph. Unfortunately, the wind is not expected to abate and the temperature not forcast to exceed 53 degrees.

Campbell's day didn't start out as she had hoped. She doubled the first hole right out of the chute. Her front side included a three doubles, a triple and a quad - very uncharachteristic for a the talented player who qualified for indiviual play.

"I was very nervous the whole front nine," Campbell admitted. "I couldn't keep my head down, I was rushing. I found it very tough to play in the wind and rain."

Though the conditions didn't improve any for her back nine, Campbell found a way to get it done. Despite two doubles she still managed a 44 on the final nine.

"On the back nine I told myself I could do it," she said. "Tomorrow I'm just going to try and shoot lower and have fun."

Cole's day started out brilliantly. She parred the par-5 first and was just one over after four holes and two over after six. A triple and double bogey on holes seven and eight slowed her down some, but she still managed a solid front-nine 45.

"Even though it was cold and wet I wasn't feeling that bad to start," Cole said. "But after nine holes my hands were looking kind of pruney."

Cole's back nine was derailed by penalty shots, including two out-of-bounds on the 16th hole which led to a 10. She parred her final hole to help give her a positive outlook for day two.

"This was a fun day and I'm looking forward to tomorrow," she said.

O'Connell said of Cole's front nine, "Considering the conditions it's probably the best nine she's had all year."

Langley's day was highlighted by a birdie on the par-4 fourth hole which helped her to a front-side 48. On the back nine she fell back a little to a 52. Though Langley had solid stretches during her round she was bitten by some big numbers along the way - especially on the later holes.

"I think maybe the rain started to effect my game," Langley said. "But really I just have to play better and I will."

While the normally consistent Parker didn't have her best day, she remained upbeat. She is playing in her first state tournament and says she is learning as she goes. After teeing off on the 10th hole she struggled to a 60, but rebounded some with a 55 on the front.

"This was a fun day, I enjoyed it," Parker said. "I think my second time around tomorrow will be a little better. I need to hit the ball and putt better and I'll be fine."

Tee times for the Raiders in today's round two open with Langley off the first hole at 9:30 a.m. Also off the first hole will be Cole (9:40), Campbell (9:50) and Petik (10:50). Parker will go off the 10th tee at 10:10.