This year’s Class 4 state golf tournament didn’t have the happy ending of 2012 for Republic. A year after Dylan Bekemeier won the Class 3 state title, he and teammate Beau Allen both came up just short of the all-state cut after two days of competition. Bekemeier shot a 154, one stroke from all-state recognition, and Allen shot a 155.
For Allen, it was a rough start on Day One that put him in a hole–literally–that he couldn’t quite dig out of. He was six over par after five holes, but says that wasn’t indicative of how he was playing.
“I had some really unfortunate lies yesterday, just hitting it perfect to the fairway and being in the foot-tall grass, hitting a few trees, and my ball ended up in a couple of holes, but I was striking the ball well, so when I got back to the second nine, I played a lot better.”
Over the final 31 holes, Allen shot a +5, which would have been enough to put him in contention without the tough start.
Despite his struggles on Monday (+6), Bekemeier was in striking distance of a second straight all-state selection until late Tuesday afternoon. He says he was disappointed with the way he handled windy conditions during his final nine holes.
“It was just pretty much however you can handle yourself (in the wind),” says Bekemeier. “I did good on the first nine, but on the back, it just got to me and I didn’t handle it as good as I could have.”
Bekemeier’s double-bogey on the final hole — caused not by the wind, but by a crazy bounce that sent the ball into a water hazard — knocked him from a tie for 13th to a tie for 18th.
Allen finished in a tie for 24th.
Two golfers shared championship honors: Patrick Byrne of Rockhurst and Matthew Mueller of Vianney. Their score was 146.
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