Fulton senior Michael Holtkamp dug himself into a deep hole after Day 1 but ended his week strong.
Holtkamp finished the Class 3 state golf tournament Monday and Tuesday at Sedalia Country Club with an 80th-place score of 192. He shot an 88 on Tuesday to shoot better than 26 other golfers after a Day 1 score of 104 sent him down in the leaderboard.
Holtkamp had already accomplished much before the state meet as he was the first Fulton boys’ golfer to qualify for state since Kory Masek in 2013.
He had to shoulder on after a Monday that saw him finish nine holes with a double-bogey or worse and collect 15 bogeys or worse.
Holtkamp started well enough by finishing the first hole with a par but then went bogey, triple-bogey, double-bogey, triple-bogey and bogey on the next five holes. It then took him nine strokes to finish the eighth hole’s par four for a 16-over par score through the front nine. Four of the final five holes on the back nine contributed to a an 18-over par on the back nine.
On Tuesday, Holtkamp not only hit a par on the first hole but picked up a birdie on the second hole. He had a double-bogey or worse on three of the next five holes but limited himself to two more of those the rest of the way. Holtkamp shot a 7-over par on the front nine and an 11-over par on the back nine after finishing with four pars and eight bogeys.
Bishop LeBlond’s Samuel Schoeberl and Hallsville’s Logan Cox won the individual state title after each shooting a 144, with Schoeberl shooting a 70 on Monday to finish the day at even par and Cox shooting a 71 on Day 1.
Father Tolton finished 14 strokes ahead of Bishop LeBlond to win the team state title with a 587. Four Trailblazers finished in the top 15 to earn all-state honors.