Fairbury golfers, Deines in hunt

LINCOLN - In the hunt, that's just where Beatrice and Fairbury golf coaches wanted their athletes by the end of the first day of the Class B Nebraska State High School Boys Golf Championships.

And that's right where the golfers were following the opening round Tuesday at Mahoney Golf Course in Lincoln.

Beatrice senior Ben Deines finished the first round tied for 11th place overall with a 76.

Deines showed consistency in shooting 38s on both the front and back nine.

“Ben just battled out there,” Beatrice coach Dick Stuart said. “He hit the ball well most of the time.”

Stuart said Deines played the par-5 holes well, but had a little trouble with some of the par-3 holes on a windy day at Mahoney.

The par-5 holes were mostly downwind, Stuart said, while golfers had to play the par-3 holes into the wind.

Conditions made it tough on the golfers to know which clubs to use and how hard to hit the ball at times, Stuart said.

“The wind can make kids really indecisive,” Stuart said.

Overall, Stuart said Deines “hung in there” well and kept himself in contention for a state medal.

“He (Deines) worked his tail off and competed like we wanted him to,” Stuart said.

While the Fairbury Jeffs were 16-strokes out of first place in the team standings following the first round, coach Jed Martin was pleased with the team's overall play.

The Jeffs finished with a 320, which put them in eighth place.

Sidney led Class B following the opening day with a 304.

Fairbury, however, was only five strokes out of second place as Scottsbluff held down that position in the standings with a 315.

Gretna shot a 316, followed by Gering, 318; Nebraska City, 319; Grand Island Northwest, 319; Blair, 319; and Fairbury, 320.

Rounding out the team scores were Hastings Adams Central, 325; Waverly, 328; O'Neill, 331; and Wayne, 333.

Prior to the start of the tournament, Martin said the Jeffs had talked about being happy if they could shoot a team score of 320 on the first day, which they did.

“The goal the first day is to just be in the hunt come the second day,” Martin said. “You just have to make sure you're within striking distance and I feel we're within that.

“We're right where we need to be.”

Individually, Fairbury was led by Lee Horky, who carded a 75.

Horky shot a 40 on the front nine, but came back with a 35 on the back.

The 75 put him in a tie for seventh-place.

Sidney's Kyle Huus led the Class B field with a 68 Tuesday, while Schuyler's Derek Hull carded a 69.

Fairbury's Jim Waldron was also right in the hunt for a state medal, finishing the first day of play with a 77.

Martin said Horky and Waldron turned in “two really good scores.”

“Lee came back with a really nice back nine round,” Martin said. “That's a real tribute to him really holding it together.”

Horky was striking the ball well on the front nine, but missed a couple of putts, Martin said. On the back nine, he did a better job with his short game.

Waldron, Martin said, put together two good nines in shooting his 77.

“Jim was pretty pleased with his overall score,” Martin said. “He finished with a double bogey, but still played really well.”

Also golfing for the Jeffs were Tyler Rosener, 81; Jared Blackwell, 87; and Clayton Raatz, 92.

Rosener was “consistent” in shooting his 81, Martin said.

“Tyler (Rosener) shot 40-41 and felt like he left some shots out there,” Martin said.

Blackwell struggled on a couple of holes, but Martin said he expects him to come back strong on the second day of play.

“Jared is a competitor and I'm not worried about him,” Martin said. “I know he's going to come back. He's going to figure out what he needs to do and I expect him to play his heart out.”

The Class B State tournament will conclude today (Wednesday) at Mahoney with a second round of 18 holes.

Class B State Golf

First-Day Team Standings

Sidney, 304; Scottsbluff, 315; Gretna, 316; Gering, 318; Nebraska City, 319; Northwest, 319; Blair, 319; Fairbury, 320; Adams Central, 325; Waverly, 328; O'Neill, 331; Wayne, 333.

Individual Leaders

Kyle Huus, Sidney, 68; Derek Hull, Schuyler, 69; Austin Miller, Gering, 70; Collin Vacek, Blair, 72; Greg Pohlmann, Columbus Lakeview, 73; Jared Gustafson, Gretna, 74; Nathan Cox, Northwest, 75; Lee Horky, Fairbury, 75; Michael Havermann, Ogallala, 75; Richard Schneider, West Point-Beemer, 75.