A group of seven boys and one girl will compete as Team Missouri in the upcoming 13U PGA Jr. League Championship.
The Legends 13U All-Stars of Legends Country Club. From left: Baxter Schrader, Charlie Leifer, Parker Crump, coach Brian Schmersahl, PGA, Madison Pyatt, Bodie Patton, Price Sanftner, Josh Hooper and Gavin King. (Photo courtesy of PGA Jr. League)
Photo courtesy of PGA Jr. League
The Legends 13U All-Stars of Legends Country Club in Eureka won the PGA U13 Junior League Region 8 tournament held at The Country Club of St. Albans.
That victory will send the team, called Team Missouri, to the 13U PGA Jr. League Championship at Fields Ranch West at PGA Frisco. The 12-team tournament will be held Nov. 11-15.
The format at the national event involves a stroke play round and then the format switches to match play for the weekend.
Brian Schmersahl, the PGA professional at The Legends, is the coach of the team.
“I just want them to enjoy the moments and the experience,” Schmersahl said. “If we handle our emotions and trust our skills, then we can go and compete with anyone in the country.”
The Team Missouri roster includes:
Parker Crump, 12, O’Fallon.
Josh Hooper, 10, Wildwood.
Gavin King, 13, Eureka.
Charlie Liefer, 12, Red Bud, Illinois.
Bodie Patton, 12, Eureka.
Madison Pyatt, 12, Eureka.
Price Sanftner, 13, St. Ann.
Baxter Schrader, Columbia, Illinois.
“A club member approached me about coaching this group two years ago and I accepted,” said Schmersahl, who has been head professional/director of golf since 2014 at The Legends.
The team was built by invitation. It is made up of members of The Legends and other clubs around the region.
“The kids play a bunch of golf on their own, so we did not have to practice very much,” Schmersahl said. “We practiced two times a month this summer and will build a practice schedule leading up to the event in Frisco.”
He is enjoying leading the youngsters.
“The kids are coachable and listen,” Schmersahl said. “The parents are supportive of me and my style of coaching.”
The Legends team entered match play as the No. 1 seeded team after shooting 27-under par in stroke play. The squad finished 19 shots ahead of the Western Kentucky All-Stars of Calvert City Golf & Country Club and Rolling Hills Country Club in Paducah.
“The team played great,” Schmersahl said. “Baxter Schrader and Charlie Liefer shot 8-under par on the back 9 to lift us to the top.”
In the semifinals, the Legends team defeated the Derby City All-Stars (Lake Forest Country Club, Owl Creek Country Club and Louisville Country Club) 7.5-4.5.
“We were solid across the team with each team winning their matches,” Schmersahl said. “We had consistent playing by all the pairings.”
In the other semifinal, Western Kentucky defeated the River City All-Stars (Big Spring Country Club, Louisville, Kentucky), 7.5-4.5.
Before the championship match, Schmersahl talked with his players.
“We talked about enjoying the moment and thinking about the next shot,” Schmersahl said. “Every shot and every hole is important, which ended up being the case in the tiebreaker.”
The Legends defeated Western Kentucky to earn their spot in the national tournament.
“Nerves got to them on Sunday afternoon for sure, the putters were not as hot as they had been on Friday,” Schmersahl said. “The kids settled in and did what they had to do to move forward.”
With the match tied at 6-6, Legends advanced on the holes-won tiebreaker, 7-5.
Sanftner delivered a key moment for Legends when he holed out for eagle on No. 14 from 64 yards out of a bunker. Sanftner and Pyatt also made birdie from the trees on No. 13 to win the hole. Both were two key points in the holes-won tiebreaker.
“Charlie and Baxter and Parker/Gavin duos lifted us to the win as they were the teams that won the most holes in the match,” Schmersahl said.
The squad celebrated winning the match.
“They were crazy excited,” Schmersahl said. “The kids had to wait for about 15 minutes before they knew we were moving on to the national championship.”