By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WAMEGO -- Playing conditions for Thursday's Washburn Rural Invitational golf tournament were terrible, with players competing in feel's like temperatures in the mid-30s, with wind gusts of 40 miles per hour and rain late in the day at Wamego Country Club.
But Washburn Rural senior Giles Frederickson said he tried to put all of that out of his mind and just play golf.
Giles Frederickson
For the most part, Frederickson, a returning All-Shawnee County pick, accomplished that goal, shooting a 77 to tie for seventh place individually in the 98-player field.
"Weather is something you can't control and I've always been taught to focus on things you can control,'' Frederickson said. "The guys that go out there and complain about the weather are probably not going to do well today.
"I felt like I did a good job. I played really well on the front nine and on the back I had a couple of holes that choked me up a little bit but in the end I thought I kept a positive attitude all day and that was really what mattered.''
Washburn Rural senior Joe Morse hits a shot in Thursday's Washburn Rural Invitational at Wamego Country Club. Morse shot an 80 to tie for 14th place. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Four other city players cracked the top 20, with Washburn Rural senior Joe Morse and freshman Tagan Monasmith and Topeka West sophomore Myles Alonzo all shooting 80s to tie for 14th place while Rural junior Bryan Terrell tied for 19th with an 81.
Olathe West won the team title with a four-player score of 311, led by individual champion Myles Tarvin, who carded a four-over-par 74.
Washburn Rural finished sixth as a team with a 334 while the Junior Blues' second team finished at 336.
Rural coach Jared Goehring said Thursday's round was a case of survival.
"Today was just a test of their mental game most importantly,'' Goehring said. "They just had to have one thing in mind and that was to move on from a previous shot and just learn from this and grow because this is the great state of Kansas and the weather is just so unpredictable.
"It's going to make a good golfer out of them playing in these type of conditions one way or another.''
Shawnee Heights finished 12th as a team at 374, led by junior Alex Valdivia's 83.
WASHBURN RURAL INVITATIONAL
At Wamego Country Club
Team scores
Olathe West 311, Olathe South 312, Blue Valley West 321, Shawnee Mission East 327, Blue Valley Northwest 328, Washburn Rural Blue 334, St. Thomas Aquinas 334, Washburn Rural White 336, Manhattan 345, Free State 355, Mill Valley 356, Wamego 358, Shawnee Heights 374, Emporia 391, Lawrence 391, Blue Valley 396.
Individual results
1. Tarvin, Olathe West, 74; 2. Strong, Olathe South, 75; 3. (tie) Baker, Blue Valley West; Warren, Olathe West; Desai, Blue Valley Northwest, and Strong, Olathe South, 76; 7. (tie) Frederickson, Washburn Rural, and Randall, Free State, 77; 9. (tie) Fowler, Blue Valley Northwest, and Bishop, St. Thomas Aquinas, 78; 11. (tie) Reckrodt, Olathe South; Kidd, Blue Valley West, and Nichols, Olathe West, 79; 14. (tie) Morse, Washburn Rural; Goldsberry, Blue Valley West; Monasmith, Washburn Rural; Shelton, Shawnee Mission East, and Alonzo, Topeka West, 80; 19. (tie) Tyrell, Washburn Rural, and Wefald, Manhattan, 81.
