Helias set for Class 3 golf championships

Cole Higgins is one of Helias' five qualifiers for the Class 3 state golf championships that begin today at the Sedalia Country Club.
Cole Higgins is one of Helias' five qualifiers for the Class 3 state golf championships that begin today at the Sedalia Country Club.

The Helias Crusaders figured the road would lead to the Class 3 golf championships this season.

That journey will end today and Tuesday as the Crusaders are one of eight teams competing for the state title at the Sedalia Country Club.

"We're playing some of our best golf of the year and that's what you want to see this time of the year," Helias coach Dan Campbell said.

The Crusaders have been successful so far this postseason, winning district and sectional titles.

In the district tournament at Eldon Country Club, Helias had all five players finish in the top seven individuals to win the team title by 47 shots.

"We stayed away from the double and triple bogies that day and a lot of players didn't," Campbell said.

Last Monday, Helias captured the sectional title by eight strokes against Logan-Rogersville at Meadow Lake Acres Country Club. The Crusaders entered the tournament with a goal of totaling a 315 and bettered that by four strokes.

"Everybody played well, with three guys in the 70s and two in the low 80s, you have to be happy with that," Campbell said.

With two wins already under their belt, the Crusaders should be confident heading to state.

"If you want to say we're peaking, I guess we are," Campbell said. "We played well at Eldon in some pretty tough conditions and got it done again at Meadow Lake. Now there's just one tournament to go."

Cole Higgins was the medalist at districts, with Jack Rundle taking second. Curtis Campbell was fourth, while Dalton Roark was sixth and Ethan Johnson tied for seventh.

Rundle took medalist honors at the sectional, while Roark tied for fourth, Higgins tied for seventh. Johnson was 11th and Campbell tied for 14th.

"We have everybody grouped and that's what it is going to take at state," Dan Campbell said. "Any of the five on any given day can get it done."

Rundle tied for 34th last year at state, while Curtis Campbell tied for 80th. The tournament was limited to one round due to rain.

That lack of experience shouldn't be a problem.

"Everybody is going to be nervous, not just us," Dan Campbell said. "Once they get a few shots in, a couple of holes under their belts, that will go away."

The Crusaders are familiar with Sedalia Country Club. Helias is a regular in the Smith-Cotton Invitational, including an eighth-place finish this season.

"We didn't play well there the first time," Campbell said. "We took some big numbers on a few holes and that hurt us."

Campbell said the course reminds him of Helias' home course at Meadow Lake Acres.

"The greens are very similar, they're quick and true, there are trees lining almost all the fairways," he said. "It's probably as close as you could get to being a matching course."

Staying in the fairway off the tee is important.

"You're not going to score well from the trees," Campbell said. "If we do get into them, we need to take our medicine to try to take doubles and triples out of play."

Patience is another key in the two-day event.

"It's just another round of golf, you have to approach it one shot at a time, one hole at a time," Campbell said. "You're not going to win anything on the first hole.

"We have to focus for all 18 holes. We can't be worrying about our scores after 14 or 15 holes, we have to finish our rounds strong."

Other teams that figure into the state title hunt include Borgia, Priory and Logan-Rogersville.

"It's going to be close at the top," Campbell said.

This is the first time Helias has advanced as a team to state since finishing sixth in Class 3 in 2009.

All-state is top 15 individuals in the tournament. The top four teams receive trophies.