Tanner Elder entered the final hole of the Class 2 state golf championships not quite knowing where he stood in the individual standings.
And as he stood over the potential five-foot birdie putt, just one thought went through his head.
"I just made myself think that I had to make it," the Blair Oaks junior said. "Anytime you make yourself believe you have to make a putt is a good thing."
Believing, along with a good stroke, led Elder to sink the pivotal putt as he captured medalist honors by one stroke over teammate Kory Franks.
The putt capped a great run on the back nine for Elder last Tuesday at Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield.
"I was hitting the ball good all week, but on the back nine, I had a lot of putts fall," Elder said. "I had a lot of right-to-left putts and I'm really comfortable with those."
It had been a frustrating season for Elder.
"I really haven't been hitting the ball that badly, but I just haven't been posting good scores," he said. "It's frustrating to hit the ball good and not get results, but that's golf.
"But in the last week, everything starting clicking and fell into place."
After opening with an even-par 72 on Monday of last week, Elder fired a 4-under 68 on Tuesday.
Elder said Rivercut is a course that suits his game.
"There isn't a whole lot of trouble off the tee and probably the weakest part of my game is my driver," he said. "I had a lot of short wedges and irons into the greens and those really are the strengths of my game.
"If I can get one in the fairway, I think I have a good shot at getting one close."
With Elder and Franks leading the way, Blair Oaks finished second as team behind Barstow.
"It was big to accomplish something as a team," Elder said. "We wanted to finish top four and bring something home."
Elder is now a three-time state medalist. He tied for second as a freshman, then tied for eighth as a sophomore. He figured he had a good chance at taking the top spot this time.
"I was hoping I would," Elder said. "I know I can put up some good numbers and I just needed that to happen."
Elder, who at age 17 became a scratch golfer in the past year, plays every day at Jefferson City Country Club. He began playing golf at age 11 after trying out other sports such as baseball, basketball, soccer and football.
"Once I started playing, I really enjoyed it," he said. "I like being able to make stuff happen for myself."
Elder wants to play college golf and is drawing serious interest from a handful of schools. He then wants to play professionally.
"The ultimate goal is to get on some kind of tour," Elder said.
His immediate plans are to play in a lot of tournaments this summer, including the Missouri Amateur in late June at Buffalo Ridge Springs in Branson.