Cason Bekemeier roared back from an early deficit to fire an even-par 72 in Monday’s opening round of the Class 5 state golf tournament, placing the Republic senior in a tie for 11th heading into Tuesday’s final round.
The Republic senior overcame a rocky start, bogeying three of his first four holes after beginning on the back nine. Bekemeier found his rhythm at the turn, playing his final 10 holes at 3-under par despite a double bogey on the par-4 fourth hole.
“The first four holes I was struggling to get anything going. I was hitting the ball very poorly and struggled to hit the ball where I was trying to,” Bekemeier said. “After a couple good holes, I really got a lot of confidence back and was able to hit it well along with me putting well. I had a good back nine to finish my round. My turnaround was more just swinging better than anything.”
His impressive stretch included four consecutive birdies from holes five through eight before a closing bogey on his final hole dropped him back to even par. After shooting 38 (+2) on his opening nine, Bekemeier fired a 34 (-2) on the front nine.
Classmate Luke Heavin shot a 79 (+7) in his state tournament debut, after a scoring correction pushed by coach Chris Bodoin changed his originally posted score of 80. Heavin’s day began with early trouble, as he triple-bogeyed his first hole (No. 10) with an eight.
“I felt some dread as it started happening, because I felt a lot of pressure and hit a very bad shot off that first tee,” Heavin said. “I took some deep breaths and focused on each shot I had. I had one objective and that’s to get back to where I wanted to be, which I somehow made happen, so I was pretty happy at the end.”
After a bogey on 11, he steadied with a birdie on the par-4 12th and two pars before three consecutive bogeys left him at 6-over through eight holes.
From that point forward, Heavin settled in and played his final 10 holes at just 1-over par, including a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole that was initially recorded as a par, to finish at 7-over for the round. He sits tied for 67th place entering Tuesday’s final round.
“I feel pretty good. I feel far more confident, especially on my putting,” Heavin said. “I did good on making sure not to put myself into trouble. In the beginning I didn’t think my putting was very strong, but by the end, I got under control. I feel a lot better that I know what my putter’s doing.”
Harrison Zipfel of St. Louis University High leads the tournament after firing an 8-under 64. Caden Mickelson of Liberty North holds second place with a 6-under 66, while Cole Packingham of Liberty (Wentzville) and Eric Ewing of Chaminade share third at 3-under 69.
The Republic duo represents the first pair of Tiger golfers to qualify for the boys state tournament in the same year since Dylan Bekemeier and Beau Allen both made it a decade ago.
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