Spoofhound trio prepares to join Pirate program
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Kaleb Groomer eyes his drive on Monday at Copper Hill Golf Course in St. Joseph.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The Maryville trio of Dylan Groomer, Kaleb Groomer and Lucas Vierthaler have played a lot of golf together over the years and they aren’t ready to be done yet.
The three members of Maryville’s top-5 team in the state this past season have committed to playing next season at North Central Missouri College in Trenton next year.
“It really helps us with our chemistry,” Dylan Groomer said. “We all know each other really well. We’ve all played enough with each other and we know what we can do and what we can score.”
It wasn’t always the plan to go together as a team to college, but when the opportunity presented itself, they jumped at it.
“Originally, the plan was to go to a different school,” Kaleb Groomer said. “… Then we got an offer from NCMC, then Lucas got one too. That just topped it off.”
Kaleb Groomer is planning to study Soil Science. Dylan Groomer will major in Ag Business and Vierthaler plans to get into the science and mathematics department.
“The coach is amazing,” Dylan Groomer said. “He is a great guy and they also have a brand-new golf facility indoors that we can practice on in the winter. It is closer to home. … It is just a great place.”
Vierthaler and the Groomers are putting in some additional rounds together this summer with the Northwest Missouri Junior Tournament Series — an 8-event series over nine weeks. The sixth stop on the tour was Monday at Copper Hill Golf Club in St. Joseph.
Copper Hill offers a different style of golf from the rest of the series with a par-3 course to force players to focus on different shots.
“This course will show you if your irons are good or not,” Kaleb Groomer said. “I found out that they aren’t great, but chipping was good.”
Kaleb Groomer shot the low score of the day with a 57 on the par-58 course to win the boys’ 16-18 age group. He got off to a hot start with a pair of birdies on No. 1 and No. 2.
“I just had a good mindset,” Kaleb Groomer said. “The range session was really bad, so I just went out hoping it would change. And it changed for the first 11 holes.”
A birdie on No. 10 put him at 4-under for the day.
Dylan Groomer was fourth in the division with a 60. He was consistent throughout the day by shooting 1-over on both the first and second nine.
“It just keeps me in a competitive mindset,” Dylan Groomer said. “So I’m not just playing just for fun. I’m out here trying to win stuff and do something — not just shoot what I can shoot.
“I felt like I was hitting the ball well. These greens are so small, it is hard to put it on there.”
Vierthaler was fifth in the division with a 61.
In the girls’ 16-18 division, Alayna Pargas shot a 70 and finished second behind Kearney’s Amina Jardak.
Halle Zimmerman finished fifth in the division with a 74 while Taylor Akon tied for seventh with a 78.
Kolyn Groomer finished ninth in the boys’ 14-15 division with a 74. Plattsburg’s Tallon Smidt won the division with a 63.
Northeast Nodaway’s Georgia Taylor, who golfs for Worth County, won the girls’ 14-15 division. She shot a 73, which included a birdie on No. 17. She topped Excelsior Springs’ Emily Herren by two strokes.
The final ‘regular season’ event for the Northwest Missouri Junior Tournament Series is Monday at Savannah’s Duncan Hills Golf Course. The following Monday is the Tour Championship at St. Joseph Country Club — an invitational event for those in contention for a series trophy.
