Rain washes out second round of Little People’s, Carthage’s Murphy ties for first in boys 14-15 division

QUINCY — Nolan Murphy’s opportunity to finish alone atop the boys 14-15 division of the Pepsi Little People’s Golf Championships was derailed before it ever got started.

Mother Nature has a way of making that happen.

Heavy rains overnight and in the early hours Wednesday forced the organizers of the 52nd annual junior golf event to delay tee times until 1 p.m. and come up with alternate plans. However, as the rain persisted and conditions at Westview Golf Course and Spring Lake Country Club became unplayable, they were forced to pull the plug on the second round of the two-day competition.

Play was called off completely around 11 a.m. Wednesday and Tuesday’s results go in the record books as the final standings.

For Murphy, the Carthage golfer who will be a sophomore at Illini West High School, it meant being part of a three-way tie for the top spot.

Murphy, Dawson Freeman of Normal, Ill., and Hunter Benson of Mahomet, Ill, each shot a 2-over 74 at Spring Lake to share the title. Quincy’s Kale Friye finished tied for ninth with an 82 and Keeden Orpet-Hulett tied for 11th with an 83.

Benson turned in one of the tournament highlights to vault himself into a tie for the top. He made a hole–in-one on the par-3 18th hole — the final hole he played — and it was the only ace made in the tournament.

In the boys 16-18 division, Peoria’s Jack Coulter played the back nine at Spring Lake in 5-under 31 and posted a 6-under 66 to win the title, three strokes ahead of Barrington’s Sam Uutala. Quincy’s Hunter St. Clair and Hannibal’s Kyle Locke shot 2-over 74s and tied for eighth. Palmyra’s Jonas Janes shot a 3-over 75 and tied for 11th.

In the girls 16-18 division at Westview Golf Course, Ava Lohrbach and Ella Lohrbach of Ames, Iowa, finished in the top two spots, shooting a 3-over 74 and a 4-over 75, respectively. Quincy’s Belle Boudreau finished sixth with an 84.

In the girls 14-15 division, not all golfers were able to finish the first round and unable to complete the second round. Quincy’s Nancy Scholz and Natalie Druffel both finished in the top 10. Scholz shot an 83 and Druffel posted an 85.

In the boys 12-13 division, Henry Glarner of St. Louis and Luke Mulligan of Burr Ridge, Ill., both shot 1-under 70 to share the top spot. Briar Megee of Lewistown, Mo. tied for sixth at 7-over 78. In the girls 12-13 division, Carthage’s Charli Wisehart tied for third with an 84 and Quincy’s Olivia Scholz was sixth with a 96.

Other top area finishers included Noah Hill of Canton, Mo., taking third in the boys 8-9 division with a 42 and Riggs Konrad of Palmyra, Mo., taking fourth in the boys 3-5 division with a 29. A trio of Quincy girls — Ainslee Niemann, Chloe Leifheit and Magnolia Schrage — finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the girls 6-7 division.