GARDEN CITY — The conditions were tough Wednesday, the competition even tougher, and the tension was dialed in at an 11.
And Connor Newman was loving every second of it.
The Humboldt High freshman tied for second in the Class 3A State Golf Tournament, while Iola High School’s Brennen Coffield tied for sixth place.
Two top-10 finishes out of a field of 103. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Newman said he finished Wednesday’s second round about an hour before his nearest competitors. To fill the time, he hung out in the Buffalo Dunes clubhouse, keeping tabs on how the others were finishing up their respective rounds.
“It was kind of fun watching the scores to see how they were changing,” Newman said.
Most importantly, he noted several were struggling in the wet and windy environs. As their scores worsened, it opened a door for Newman — who had carded a 4-over par 76 on the 18-hole course — to nab a top finish.
“There was a while where I was wondering if I needed to get ready for a playoff,” Newman said Thursday.
Alas, Hesston’s Grant Waterson, who held a 2-stroke lead over Newman and Drew Buckman of Council Grove, parred his 17th and 18th holes, leaving Newman and Buckman in a second-place tie with a combined score of 149, or five strokes over par.
“It didn’t work out the way I wanted, but obviously this is a great week with a great outcome,” Newman said. “I can take a lot of knowledge out of this tournament for next year.”
For Coffield, this was his third straight appearance at the state meet. Coffield carded 75-78 — 153 over the two-day tournament to finish in a sixth-place tie.
“It was a good tournament, but there were a lot of shots I’d like to have back,” Coffield said. “They weren’t ideal conditions, but everybody had to deal with them. I just kept it pretty safe.”
NEWMAN, who began Wednesday in a tie for fourth, teed off well before the other leaders because of how the state scheduled tee-off times. Those on full teams were relegated to the later time slots, while individual qualifiers got first bidding.
That may have played in Newman’s favor, he admitted, because it allowed him to play his round without having his attention diverted by how the other leaders were playing.
“We were essentially flying blind,” Humboldt golf coach Bret Hauser said.
That paid off amid miserable weather conditions, with golfers contending with wind gusts of up to 25 mph, and sporadic storms, including a three-hole stretch where the entire course was pelted with heavy rain.
