Buffs’ junior becomes third playerto win boy’s title
Captures championship on home course at Buffalo Dunes
Dreams do often come true and that became a reality on Tuesday for Garden City High School junior Maddix Shook, whose two-day, 36-hole total of 139 (70-69) was one shot ahead of Blue Valley-West’s Ty Lasley to capture the Class 6A Boys State Golf Championship.
The tournament was played on his home layout of Buffalo Dunes Golf Course and the final round weather of cool morning temperatures and gusty winds played right into the master plan for Shook to take down all of the best players from eastern Kansas.
Shook had opened with a solid 2-under-par 70 on Monday, a day in which conditions were nearly perfect of cool, cloudy and no wind. The course, softened by a late Sunday afternoon thunderstorm, was taken head on by the best 6A players and 16 of them shot 69 or better, leaving Shook three shots out of the lead.
“I felt like it was my goal to achieve a year ago,” said Shook, who placed 8th at the 2023 state played at Sand Creek Station Golf Course in Newton. “It’s a great feeling. A lot of hard work went into this and it’s awesome to see it pay off.”
Shook said he felt like he was in good position heading into Tuesday’s final round, and when he arrived at Buffalo Dunes for his pre-round warm-up, he liked the fact that it was chilly and the wind was howling out of the north-northwest with gusts exceeding 30 mph at times.
“The first day was to go out and go low and I had a chance (5-under-par through 8 holes), but I made some bad mistakes and slipped up with some bad decisions,” Shook said. “On Tuesday with the wind blowing, the key was to keep the ball in play.”
He did that by hitting 24-of-28 fairways over the two days of competition and played solidly to the greens and putting well.
“I got off to such a good start (birdies at his first two holes — the 10th (Par 5) and 11th (Par 4) and parred 12 through 18,” Shook said.
His lone bogey of the day came at the par-3 17th (his eighth hole) before moving to the Dunes’ front nine which has been something of a challenge in three tournaments there this season.
This time, though, he was rock solid and made tournament-changing birdies at the 5th and 6th holes, his 15th and 16th of the day. A 15-footer on the 5th was followed by a short iron to a foot at the 6th. He made pars at the 7th, 8th and 9th to finish that side at -2 and a final round 3-under-par 69. He was the only player in the final 56-player field to break 70 on Tuesday.
Lasley, had opened with a 69, fired the only other under-par round Tuesday with a 1-under 71 for his 140 total. James Ackerman of Blue Valley and Tyler Strong of Olathe South, co-leaders at 5-under 67 after Day 1, shot identical 75’s Tuesday to tie for third at 142.
“It was a day to make a lot of pars and then put yourself in position to make a few birdies when the opportunities were there,” Shook said. “It was really cool to do this on my home course with a lot of family, friends, teammates, classmates. The crowd support was so helpful. It really got me more momentum during the round and that’s why I loved winning at home.”
Shook, as do many golfers who play at a high competitive level, said he had managed his nerves and emotions throughout the two rounds better than he had in the past.
“I kept my head clear of things,” Shook said. “I was just trying to focus on the shot, and then focus on the next shot and to be fully committed to the shot I had to make.”
Moore, in his second season as the head coach, said he was impressed how Shook managed his game throughout the two days of play.
“We had a couple of extra days to prepare and Maddix put together a good game plan,” Moore said. “We just tried to work on what clubs to use to hit off the tee to put him in the best position to hit clubs he wanted into the greens. He hit a lot of good shots and it was more impressive in the windy conditions. The wind became his ally while it was the enemy for a lot of the golfers from eastern Kansas.”
With his triumph, Shook becomes just the third Buff to claim a boys’ state individual championship. Sion Audrain was the most recent, having won twice, in 2019 at Firekeeper Golf Course north of Topeka, and in 2017 at Auburn Hills Golf Course in Wichita. Clay Wasinger was the first individual titlist in 1995 when he won at Rolling HIlls Country Club in Wichita. Both of those titles came when the state tournament was just a one-day, 18-hole event.
Mackenzie Thayer is the lone Lady Buff golfer to win an individual title, coming in 2011 at Shadow Glen Golf Club in Olathe.
On Monday, a pair of Buffs’ sophom*ores who had also qualified as individuals didn’t make the 18-hole cut to Tuesday’s final round. Finn Harris shot an 85 while Simon Biera had a 91.
“Valuable lessons learned for these two young golfers,” Moore said of Harris and Biera. “It will help them as they move forward to summer golf and next season.”
On the team front, Olathe-West edged Olathe-Northwest by two shots, with a two-day total of 583 (278-305) to Northwest’s 585 (277-308). Third place went to defending champion Shawnee Mission East at 591 (290-301). Of the remaining three teams to make the cut (12 teams entered), Blue Valley High was fourth at 608 (298-310), Derby was fifth at 633 (305-328) and Manhattan sixth at 626 (305-321).
The Monday weather conditions, ideal for low scoring, had produced the 11- and 10-under team scores for Olathe West and Northwest, but no team broke the 300-stroke barrier in Tuesday’s blustery conditions. Shawnee Mission East had the lowest team total Tuesday with a 301.
Of the 12 teams that qualified for state, only Manhattan and Derby were from outside the Kansas City area. The top four finishing teams came from the K.C. area.
In its history, Garden City High has produced one six-man team champion, with that coming in 1998 when the Buffs won at Southwind Country Club (now Southwind Golf & Dining). In 1977, when Garden was Class 4A, the Buffs’ two-man team captured that division of state golf when it also had 4-man team competition.
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Class 6A State Golf Championship
At Buffalo Dunes Golf Course (Par 72)
Monday-Tuesday, May 20-21, 2024
Individual Top 10
Maddix Shook, Garden City, 70-69—139; 2. Ty Lasley, Blue Valley-West, 69-71—140; 3. James Ackerman, Blue Valley, 67-75—142; 4. Tyler Strong, Olathe-South, 67-75—142; 5. Myles Tarvin, Olathe-West, 68-75—143; 6. Blake Winter, Olathe-Northwest, 70-75—145; 7. Hudson Bennish, Shawnee Mission East, 71-74—145; T8. Bennett Warren, Olathe-West (68-76—146), Nick VanWyngard, Olathe-Northwest (69-77—146) and Jake Conley, Olathe-Northwest (68-78—146).
Team Results
Olathe-West, 278-305—583; 2. Olathe-Northwest, 277-308—585; 3. Shawnee Mission East, 290-301—591; 4. Blue Valley, 298-310—608; 5. Manhattan, 305-321-626; 6. Derby, 305-328—633.
Teams That Missed the 18-hole Cut
Olathe-South, 306; Blue Valley-Northwest, 312; Dodge City, 321; Topeka-Washburn Rural, 323; Wichita East and Maize High, 354.
