BOWLING GREEN — After two long days of play on a grueling Bowling Green Country Club course, Trinity High School golf coach Pat Heitz had mixed emotions.
On one hand, the Shamrocks had reached the state tournament after a three-year absence and put themselves in contention for a championship.
Then there was the bitterness of knowing his squad had a late lead but couldn’t hang on.
“It was a boxing match,” Heitz said. “We had the lead, then they’d catch us. We’d get the lead, they’d catch us. Little things happen, and it turns so quickly on this golf course.”
Ultimately, Madison Central once again finished on top at the Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac/KHSAA State Golf Championships. The Indians carded a two-day total of 596 to finish four shots ahead of Trinity (600). McCracken County finished third at 614, and Christian Academy was fourth at 615.
Madison Central won its third straight championship, becoming the first team to three-peat since St. Xavier accomplished the feat from 2014-16.
“When you have some experience down here and have kids with big hearts that do all the things right, the big things fall into place,” said Kyle Congleton, the Indians head coach and a 2012 Madison Central alum. “I don’t have a lot of words right now because it’s been an exhausting day, physically and mentally.”
Lexington Catholic senior Charlie Spiller won the individual title after a three-hole playoff with Allen County-Scottsville’s Barton Rutledge and Pikeville’s Cam Roberts. The trio finished with two-round totals of 1-under-par 143s.
Spiller ended a run of three straight individual champions from Christian Academy (Matthew Troutman in 2021 and Brady Smith in 2022 and 2023).
St. Xavier’s Luc Kelty was the top individual finisher from Louisville, tying for fourth place at 145. Eastern’s Luke Bryant tied for eighth place at 146.
Trinity won the state title in 2020 but hadn’t returned after failing to advance out of the deep Region Six each of the past three years.
“Winning our region is harder than winning state,” Heitz said. “I’ll say that to anybody all day long. We had five teams that were probably top 10 in the state. Any of us could have won state.”
Trinity was seven shots behind Madison Central following Tuesday’s first round, and Heitz encouraged his golfers to approach Wednesday’s round with a match-play mindset.
“If each guy wins his ‘match’ by 2,” Heitz explained, “we win.”
The approach looked good early Wednesday as Trinity gained three shots on Madison Central after the first hole. After five holes, Trinity had taken a two-shot lead over the Indians.
“The momentum was there,” Heitz said. “But we knew it was going to come down to the end.”
Congleton said the title was decided on the final three holes, and the numbers proved him correct. Madison Central was 1 over as a team on Nos. 16-18, and Trinity was 5 over.
That four-shot advantage was the final difference.
“We played the front nine really well, just didn’t do that great on the back,” said Trinity senior William Hudson, a University of Cincinnati commit who tied for 11th place at 148. “It happens. … Every time you play this course it’s hard. There’s no easy shot, no easy putt, no easy hole. It’s one of the hardest courses in Kentucky, by far.”
Madison Central was led by junior Seth Barker, who placed 10th with a 147. The Indians also got solid play from juniors Jake Feldhaus (tied for 11th, 148) and Tucker Jones (tied for 16th, 150) and senior Radney Bales (tied for 19th, 151).
When it was over, an exhausted Congleton said he was ready to head home and see his family.
“You have to take your hat off to Trinity,” Congleton said. “They’re a heck of a team coached by a great coach. We knew they were going to give us a battle today. We didn’t have our best stuff, and they didn’t have their best stuff. It was just a battle out there.”
Reach Jason Frakes at jfrakes@courier-journal.com and follow him on X @kyhighs.
KHSAA boys golf state championships
Tuesday-Wednesday at Bowling Green Country Club, par-72
Team scores – 1. Madison Central 596; 2. Trinity 600; 3. McCracken County 614; 4. Christian Academy 615; 5. (tie) Frederick Douglass, Taylor County 623; 7. Owensboro 638; 8. St. Henry 649; 9. Pulaski County 660
Top individuals – 143 – x-Charlie Spiller (Lexington Catholic), Barton Rutledge (Allen County-Scottsville), Cam Roberts (Pikeville); 145 – Luc Kelty (St. Xavier), Brady Hensley (North Laurel), Gabe Cole (Taylor County), Landon Hunt (McCracken County); 146 – Layton Richey (Greenwood), Luke Bryant (Eastern); 147 – Seth Barker (Madison Central); 148 – Griffin Barke (South Oldham), Evan Taylor (George Rogers Clark), William Hudson (Trinity), Jake Feldhaus (Madison Central); 149 – Jack Farmery (McCracken County)
X – won playoff for individual title
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA golf state tournament 2024 results: Trinity High School second
