Franks signs with Missouri State for golf

Blair Oaks senior Kory Franks (seated in middle) signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play golf at Missouri State University. Seated with him are his parents, Angie and David Franks. Standing (from left) is Blair Oaks principal Gary Verslues, athletic director Ryan Fick and coach Leroy Bernskoetter.
Blair Oaks senior Kory Franks (seated in middle) signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play golf at Missouri State University. Seated with him are his parents, Angie and David Franks. Standing (from left) is Blair Oaks principal Gary Verslues, athletic director Ryan Fick and coach Leroy Bernskoetter.

WARDSVILLE - Need an idea how tough golf can be? It can even leave players with Division-I talent wondering if they're cut out for it.

It wasn't so long ago that Blair Oaks' Kory Franks, who signed a letter of intent Wednesday to play for the Missouri State Bears, was questioning his abilities.

"I heard a quote once that goes, "When you're playing bad, you don't ever feel like you're going to play good again, and when you're playing great, you don't feel like you're ever going to play bad again,'" Franks said. "Two years ago, I was like, "Man, I'm never going to play good.' Then this summer I kind of got on a roll and didn't feel like I would ever play bad. I just had so much confidence."

Franks finished 11th in the state golf tournament as a freshman, then came in ninth during what he called a "rough" sophomore season. He bounced back to win the Class 2 individual title in May, and that got him rolling.

To start the summer, he advanced through stroke play at the Missouri Amateur Championship before eventually falling in the Round of 32. He then finished fourth in the Missouri Junior Amateur Championships, followed it up by finishing 10th in the Bass Pro Shops/Payne Stewart Junior Challenge, and then won the Lockton/Samsung Kansas City Junior event put on by the American Junior Golf Association.

The reason for the success was simple. Well, it's not simple for a lot of golfers, but it was for Franks.

"I drove the ball really well," he said. "I hit about 76 percent of fairways, and if you've playing from the fairway, golf is really not a hard game. My driving of the ball was really big."

Franks' summer got the attention of a lot of people, but some had already been interested, including Missouri State coach Neal Stafford.

"They started following me and I never really gave them much thought," Franks said. "I was thinking more about Mizzou. Then (Missouri State's) coach asked me if I wanted to take a visit, and I was open-minded.

"Then I looked at their roster and I was like, "Man, I know three or four of these guys, I'm friends with them.' I believe in coach Stafford and what he's doing there. He's a great coach. ... He's a guy that I want to be around. I don't want to have a coach I don't like."

Wednesday's signing was just another step in the pressure-filled recruiting process.

"Even before I verbally committed there, every tournament I was like, "I want to impress the coach,'" Franks said. "When I finally verbally committed, it was a sigh of relief. And this is another step beyond that. ... It feels so good to finally sign, to where I'm kind of part of the team now. Just so much practice I've spent over the years has paid off."

Blair Oaks golf coach Leroy Bernskoetter said it's that work that separates Franks from a lot of players.

"He's a great example for the others," Bernskoetter said. "At practice, he's going to be the last one leaving. He's taken a couple younger players under his wings, like Jake Van Ronzelen and Luke Sullivan. A lot of times he'll give them rides so they'll stay longer at practice.

"His commitment is huge, which helps with the mental aspect of golf, to fight through when things aren't going your way."

While Franks continues to work on his game even with winter approaching, another sport will be taking center stage for a while. The senior is the leading returning scorer for the boys basketball team that starts play in a little more than two weeks.

"My focus is on basketball. It's kind of nice to have a little break," Franks said. "I don't want to quit golf completely, I'm still playing, but I'm focused on basketball. I'm really hungry, I want a district championship bad."

The goal is even bigger for the spring.

"As far as golf, I won an individual championship, but being part of a team state champion would be an even greater feeling," he said. "To share that success with my entire team would be awesome."