Don Shrubshell photo

Rock Bridge’s Joe Neal shot a 2-over-par 72 yesterday in the Columbia Classic at A.L. Gustin Golf Course. The Bruins placed sixth as a team.

Nick Wilson’s golf game wasn’t quite right entering yesterday’s season-opening Columbia Classic.

A day spent at the driving range with an old buddy helped turn things around.

Assisting a friend who is a sales representative for Adams Golf during a demo days event Sunday at Perche Creek, the Hickman junior had an opportunity to try out some new equipment and work on his game.

"I hit some balls and hit it awesome, so I was real confident today," Wilson said.

Don Shrubshell photo

Hickman’s Chris Johnson tees off on the 17th hole yesterday. Johnson shot a 72 to tie for third place individually in the Columbia Classic. The Kewpies placed fourth as a team.

The result was an even-par 70 that was good enough to tie for individual medalist honors with Rockhurst’s Andrew Campbell during the 14-team multi-format tournament held at A.L. Gustin Golf Course. Campbell won first place on a tiebreaker.

During a roller coaster round, Wilson carded six birdies, six pars and six bogeys to finish the day where he started.

"I drove the ball really well today," said Wilson, who birdied the two par-5s.

Wilson’s performance bested senior teammate and Missouri recruit Chris Johnson, who shot a 72 to tie for third place with four other golfers.

Wilson’s and Johnson’s strong individual efforts led Hickman to a fourth-place finish in the team event that included scramble and best-ball scores. Brandon Fancher and Chad Goodson scrambled to a 70 and Ben Sjurson and Grant Cooper combined for a 78 in the best-ball format to give the Kewpies a total of 290.

Hickman would have finished in third if it could have used the best-ball score of 75 turned in by JV competitors Taylor Cox and Josh Ueberroth.

Turning in the top scramble score and placing second in the best ball, Rockhurst won the team title with a 279. Jefferson City was second with a 285, and DeSmet was third with a 288.

"We’ve seen what we have to compete with, and we were competitive," Hickman Coach Clark Swisher said. "Rockhurst is the odds-on favorite to win the state championship, and we’re close to them right now."

Rock Bridge combined to shoot a 295 to tie Rolla for sixth place. Joe Neal led the Bruins with an individual score of 72, but he was hoping for better after shooting 2-under on the front nine.

"He was a little bit disappointed in himself, and I can understand why," Rock Bridge Coach Doug Daniels said. "You start 2-under par, and Joe’s a good enough player to keep it there. He was a little mad at himself."

Rock Bridge teammate John Trecha took a different route to a respectable 76. Two disastrous holes had him at 7-over after his first nine holes, but he recovered to shoot 1-under the rest of the way.

"Two holes killed him, but he hung in there and grinded it out," Daniels said. "Sometimes it’s not really the final score you shoot, it’s when you get yourself in trouble, can you maintain respectability and turn in a decent score?"

Rounding out Rock Bridge’s score card was a best-ball 74 from Dan Kohnle and Mark Kollias and a 73 scramble by Patrick Cornell and A.J. Perry.

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