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NC golf takes second at state
kirt Manion
news | press
A furious comeback by Gretna dissolved a
Nebraska City lead and put the Dragons on top of the leaderboard Wednesday
at day two of the Class B Boys’ State Golf Championships at Pioneers
Golf Course in Lincoln.
Second place, a major achievement to be certain, was
less of a highlight for a Nebraska City team that’s simply not used
to losing, especially this year.
Nebraska City entered the tourney after having gone
unbeaten in both duals and tournaments this year.
ClaytonRakes won the individual Eastern Midlands
Conference title and Dylan Heng won the district crown.
On Tuesday at state, Nebraska City did well, putting
itself in the thick of the championship chase with a 301.
Gretna also had a 301.
Good news continued to roll in on Wednesday, as the
Pioneers established an eight-stroke lead at the nine-hole turn.
The trailing Dragons didn’t pack up their
clubs, however.
Instead, the Gretna team staged a rally, shot 146
over the final nine holes and ended up two strokes ahead of the Pioneers.
That back nine score is rare.
Nebraska City had a similar score just once this year
and Coach Scott Kinnison said the Dragons deserved credit for getting their
low round on the state course.
Still, there was little doubt about the
Pioneers’ feelings regarding a two-stroke loss to a Gretna team they
had beaten before and one they were in position to beat again on Wednesday.
Coach Kinnison said the feeling of disappointment
will be a tough one for his team to shake.
“This might be one that is going to be tough to
get over,” Coach Kinnison said, pointing to the Pioneers’ lead
at the nine-hole turn Wednesday.
“I think we feel like we let it slip through
our fingers,” Coach Kinnison said.
What makes it tough is the close nature of the loss.
Considering the total strokes for the tourney was at
over 600 for both Nebraska City and Gretna, Coach Kinnison said any golfer
can find plenty of strokes and situations where a better outcome could have
been created.
The sting of the loss hurt for everybody Wednesday,
particularly the seniors on the team, but Coach Kinnison said that pain
will eventually diminish.
“I told them when we were taking pictures that
they’ll look back on this 10 or 20 years from now and realize what an
accomplishment it was,” Kinnison said.
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