Drew Heinz had been playing solid golf in his first few tournaments of the season, but the Ellinwood junior felt like a great round was still eluding him. 

That’s no longer the case after Heinz fired a career-best 68 on Thursday at Mariah Hills Golf Course, topping a strong field that included 5A and 6A golfers to win the Dodge City Invitational. 

Heinz, last year’s Class 2A state runner-up, finished 3 under par. Reigning Class 5A state champion Noah Holtzman from Wichita Carroll took second with a 70. 

“I thought I had been playing well but just hadn’t pieced a good round together, and (Thursday) I finally did,” Heinz said. “I knew I had an outside shot (at winning) and I knew I would probably need to play some of my best, because under par needed to win it.” 

Heinz was at even par heading to 16 before closing out his round with three straight birdies. He drained a 20-foot putt on 18 for his sixth birdie of the day. 

“I definitely felt some pressure. My heart was beating pretty fast,” Heinz said. “I was just trying to focus, one hole at a time, and not let anything get to me.”

Heinz won the season-opening Nickerson tournament after shooting a 76 and edging Kingman’s Kory Meireis in a playoff. He also won the Sterling Invitational with a 77 and tied for second at the Sacred Heart Invitational with a 75. 

His previous best round high school round before Thursday was a 72. 

“My strength is probably driving and (Thursday) I putted pretty well,” Heinz said. “I’m just trying to improve on just hitting more greens so I have more opportunities to make birdies.”

Heinz shot a 75 in a rain-shortened Class 2A state tournament last year at Emporia to finish runner-up by one shot to Ashton Dowell from Hoxie. He earned a 10th-place finish at state as a freshman. 

In addition to Holtzman, who has signed with the University of Kansas, the stacked field at Dodge City also included Hutchinson’s Ty Adkins, last year’s Class 6A runner-up, and Sacred Heart’s Michael Matteuci and Luke Newell, both standouts who helped the Knights win their seventh straight state team championship last year. 

Eisenhower won the team title at Dodge City. Luke Springer and Brody Scafe each shot 71s for the Tigers to tie for third place with Adkins. 

“I like having more competition there,” Heinz said. “I think it makes me play better and focus a little more. 

“I think (winning the tournament) gives me a lot of confidence. I have two big tournaments coming up next week so that hopefully gives me momentum going into those.”

OTHER GOLF STANDOUTS 

– Garden City sophomore Maddix Shook captured the Hays High Bob Blazer Invitational last Monday. Shook shot a 1-under 70 to win by two shots over Manhattan’s Tate Reid. 

– Atwood-Rawlins County’s Jeb Kastens won the Buffaloes’ home tournament on Saturday with an 80. The Buffaloes also won the team title with a 365, two shots better than Goodland. 

– Hill City’s Dylan Budig won the Norton Invitational on Friday with an 83, edging Hoxie’s Tate Weimer by two strokes. Hill City and Hoxie topped the team scores, both recording a 345.

– Greeley County’s Lincoln Shafer won the Thunderhawk Invitational hosted by Wheatland-Grinnell with an 85. Jackrabbit teammate Titus Sherer placed second with an 87. Greeley County won the team title with a 361. 

– Ashland’s Cord Kellenberger won the Medicine Lodge Invitational last Tuesday with an 81. His teammate Landen McPhail placed second with an 83. The Blue Jays won the team title with a 360. 

– South Gray occupied the top three spots in the Southwestern Heights Invitational on Tuesday. Gavin Wahl won the tournament with a 71, followed by Cameron Wahl with a 79 and Jaxon Koehn with an 81. South Gray won the team title with a 327.