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Last modified: Thursday, May 8, 2008 1:17 AM CDT
Jays' golf team gets four through to state
By Kevin Goodwin
 Matt Frye/Liberty Tribune
Liberty High sophomore Devin Montague takes a shot on the front nine of Liberty Hills Country Club during the Class 4 District 8 Tournament on April 30. The Blue Jays finished third and qualified four players for the state meet.
Liberty High didn’t win the Class 4 District 8 golf tourney, but the team didn’t come away from it disappointed.
The Blue Jays will still go the Class 4 state tourney Monday and Tuesday, May 12 and 13, as a team after having four players qualify for state individually April 30 at Liberty Hills Country Club.
Liberty took third with 320 strokes, only four behind champion Park Hill South and one in back of second-place Blue Springs.
The Blue Jays still qualified with four solid performances. Sophomore Sala Still tied for third with a score of 78 on the par-70 course. Derek Swinford tied for seventh with a 79. Derek Martinez tied for 12th with an 81, and Jake Glaser was 14th with an 82.
“It was sweet,” Swinford said. “I wish we could have gotten the whole team down. Four guys is still pretty solid. Honestly, if you would have asked me if we would have gotten four guys to qualify at state, I probably would have said no at the beginning of the year.”
The Blue Jays weren’t overwhelmed with the way they played on their home course. They believe there is quite a bit of room for improvement.
“We’ve always known we have the ability to play well on any given day, but we’ve never really had more than two kids play well on the same day,” said Liberty coach Forrest Bertoldie. “They all played fairly well. No one played exceptionally well. Sala had a solid day, but Swinford probably had a day that would be average for him. The others played pretty much like they normally play.
“They had the thought we could win. I don’t consider our effort to be something out of the ordinary. I expected us to play better, but I was sure glad to get four kids so they go to state as a team.”
The Blue Jays will get one more chance for improvement this season. The state tourney will be played on a new course this year — the Island Green Golf Course in Republic. The 6,773-yard course will play to a par-72.
“We have no knowledge of it besides what we’ve found on the Internet,” Bertoldie said. “But I’m confident that we can go down there and play well.”
Sports writer Kevin Goodwin can be reached at 389-6652 or kgoodwin@npgco.com.
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