McMinn, Harris lead O’Fallon to sweep of Goalby-Haas Invitational
O’Fallon junior Alyssa McMinn wasn’t pleased with her practice round at St. Clair Country Club earlier this week. Her round on Thursday was much better.
The No. 4 player on a deep and talented O’Fallon girls golf squad, McMinn played bogey-free golf as she finished with a 1-under par 35 to lead the way as the Panthers repeated as champions at the Goalby-Haas Invitational on Thursday at St. Clair Country Club.
A standout soccer player in addition to excelling on the links, McMinn made a 10-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole to go along with eight pars as she coasted to a seven-stroke win over teammate Emily Marrs for the individual title.
McMinn said her best round was totally unexpected.
“I was actually very nervous because I came out here (St. Clair) for a practice round and played just terrible. I had no idea I was going to play this well,” McMinn said. “I just tried to hit fairways and greens. It was a good day.”
Brooke Boatman and Natalie Meinkoth added rounds of 45 for O’Fallon, which finished with a tournament record score of 167 that was well ahead of both Belleville East and Columbia. The win is the third for O’Fallon in the season-opening event. Althoff has won the other two.
The O’Fallon girls had to share the spotlight with their male teammates on Thursday who got a 38 from medalist Logan Harris to win the boys’ division. Taylor Patterson and Drew Taylor added rounds of 41 while Matt Manissi added a 44 for the Panthers boys team.
In the girls division, Belleville East got a sparkling round of 44 from Bre Haas, while Columbia got a pair of solid rounds from Katelyn Jonak (48) and Clara Taake (49). Althoff’s Megan Lewis also shot a 48.
But O’Fallon, expected to be the top Class AA girls team in the in this part of the state, dominated on a hot, humid summer afternoon.
“You’re always pleased to win and I think we broke the tournament record today (167). But I still think and I think the girls do as well, that we can go lower. But it was a very good day,’’ Panthers coach Chris Eddy said. “I’m very pleased for (Alyssa). She’s probably our most athletic player. She plays soccer but hopefully a round like this today will show her what she can do on the golf course.’’
O’Fallon boys look sharp
One of the top players in the metro-east area for the past two years, Logan Harris already knows what he can do on a golf course. A first team Belleville News-Democrat All-Area selection a year ago, Harris didn’t putt well on the tricky greens that had extremely tough pin placements at St. Clair Country Club but he still played well enough to post a 38 and a two-stroke win to lead the way for O’Fallon.
“It’s a tough golf course and they had the pins in some difficult spots today,” Harris said. “I had (18) putts in nine holes. That’s too many but I hit the ball well tee to green. I’m hoping for a good year. The summer had kind of a tough start, but it got better as time went on. I feel like I’m playing well to start the high school season.’’
Althoff’s Dylan Davidson, the Gateway Junior PGA Player of the Year this summer, along with teammate Jack Bruening shot rounds of 40, while Kyle Steve of Columbia also added a 40.
Belleville East got three rounds of 43 from Austin Galloway, Hunter Davis and Garrett Dahm.
But two days after a solid top five finish at the Alton Redbird Tee-Off Classic, O’Fallon posted its first win of the season.
“St. Clair Country Club is challenging anytime. But for some of these players who were playing it for the first time today, it can be very difficult. The greens were tough today, but I thought we played well,” Panthers coach Kevin Kellermann said. “Some of our players got off to a tough start. But I was pleased at the way we stayed in there and kind of grinded it out. It was s good effort.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 10:41 PM with the headline "McMinn, Harris lead O’Fallon to sweep of Goalby-Haas Invitational."