Franks, Falcons win district golf championships

EUGENE - It was a good day for the Blair Oaks and Southern Boone golf teams.

Blair Oaks shot a 319 and Southern Boone scored a 328 to claim the top two spots Monday in the Class 2 District 4 Tournament at Redfield Golf and Country Club. The Falcons and Eagles now advance to Monday's sectional tournament in Kirksville.

"Anytime you win the district championship, you have to say it's a good year," Blair Oaks coach Leroy Bernskoetter said. "It's always a sweet sound to hear. The guys are five really good boys and I'm proud of them."

Blair Oaks' Kory Franks and Southern Boone's Walker Kesterson tied for medalist honors with Father Tolton's Jack Parker, carding a 2-under 70. The trio played in the same group, along with Eugene's Carson Doerhoff, who shot an 85.

"I hit the ball really well today," Franks said. "I struggled putting, but I feel like my score doesn't quite reflect how well I hit the ball. I'll work on my putting and I'll be good to go these next couple of weeks."

Franks birdied the first two holes and was 3-under through five before he bogeyed two out of the last four holes on the front nine. An eagle on 11 brought him back to 3-under, but Franks double-bogeyed hole 12 to set him back. He finished with a birdie on 14 and four straight pars.

"I hit my drive really well, then hit it about four feet or so on the par-5. Then just tapped her in," Franks said of his eagle.

Kesterson birdied three of the first five holes to stay even with Franks, and he finished the front nine with a 34 for a one-shot lead on Franks. Kesterson parred the first six holes on the back nine, before recording a birdie on 16 and a bogey on 17 to finish even-par on the final nine holes.

Southern Boone's squad didn't record a score of more than 100, as Brayden Watts shot an 82 for 10th overall, Jakob Warren was tied for 14th place with an 86, Tanner Sherman shot a 90 and Alex Zagorac finished with a 99.

Blair Oaks' Tanner Elder carded a 74 to claim fourth overall, and Jake VanRonzelen scored an 86, tying for 14th. Kyle Backes finished with an 89 and Braydon Pemberton had a 100 to finish the Falcons' scoring.

"This was a tough district, some of these guys will be down there in state," Bernskoetter said. "Good day, good finish, but we have to move on and hope to have another good day next Monday."

Fatima placed fifth as a team with a 361. California carded a 370 for sixth and South Callaway and Eugene finished seventh and eighth with scores of 392 and 394, respectively.

All-district honors are awarded to the top 15 finishers. They included Franks, Elder, and VanRonzelen of Blair Oaks; Kesterson, Watts and Warren of Southern Boone; Versailles' Travis Reger (80); South Callaway's Logan Taylor (84) and Blake Parker (86); Carson Kramer (80) of Fatima; Doerhoff of Eugene; and California's Kade McAdams (85).

The top 15 individuals outside of Blair Oaks and Southern Boone qualify for the sectional tournament as well.

California qualified two, McAdams and Dylan Kramel (91). Doerhoff and Cameron Lauf (92) will represent Eugene, Fatima had three qualify - Carson Kramer, Kyle Hudspeth (90) and Austin Eisterhold (91). Taylor and Parker qualified for South Callaway.