HUTCHINSON – As Shawnee Mission East junior Stuart Boulware saw his breath in the morning chill on the Carey Park Golf Course putting green Friday, he wasn’t exactly locked in on the possibility of a scorching hot round.
 
But the weather soon warmed, and so did Boulware.
 
Firing a bogey-free, tournament record-tying 66 that included a birdie on his final hole, Boulware earned medalist honors by one shot and led the Lancers to the team title in the Rusty Hilst Invitational.
 
Boulware’s 6-under-par round matched the 66s shot in 1974 and 1977 in the then-Hutchinson Invitational by Salina Central’s Bryan Norton, who later went on to a 10-year professional career that included a season on the PGA Tour.
 
Boulware’s 66 marked his third individual victory of the spring.
 
“I got out to a hot start,” said Boulware, who topped a field of 181 golfers from 37 teams across the state. “Then I missed a few short putts and started to stall out a little bit. But I got a boost with some short par-5s and overall it felt great.”
 
Boulware, whose birdie on the final hole last May at Winfield’s Quail Ridge punctuated Shawnee Mission East’s second Class 6A championship in three years, came through in the clutch again Friday. Tied with Wamego senior Regan Kueker as he stepped to the par-4 first – Boulware’s 18^th hole – the Lancer belted his tee shot just short of the green on the 350-yard hole.

 
Boulware’s pitch shot landed in the fringe and settled 6 feet from the hole. He then rolled his birdie attempt in on the right side.
 
“I had quite a long wait on that last hole,” Boulware said. “My coach was there and we talked for quite a while just to keep my mind off the tee shot. I just aimed a little right of the green because my ball had been working left. I aimed there and hit a great drive.”
 
Boulware’s final birdie helped the Lancers post a four-man score of 282 – also 6-under par – on a Carey Park course that recently modified from a par 71 to par 72. SM East senior Hudson Bennish, last year’s Hilst Invitational champion, shot a 70 to tie for fourth. Senior Elliott Cowden carded a 72 to tie for eighth and senior Porter Howard’s 74 put him in a tie for 17^th.
 
Boulware, who won Mill Valley’s Jaguar Invitational and the Firekeeper Open/6A Preview in April, also denied Kueker his second victory in as many days. Kueker shot a 4-under 67 on Thursday to win the Hesston Invitational and was on Boulware’s heels all day Friday.
 
Kueker pulled even with Boulware with a birdie on his penultimate hole, the par-4 fourth. But at the 459-yard fifth, Kueker’s chip for birdie struck the pin and stopped an inch from the hole, leaving him with his second straight 67 but one shot behind Boulware.
 
“It bounced like four times, rolled a little, hit the stick and bounced out,” said Kueker, who will try to help Wamego win its fourth consecutive Class 4A title later this month. “It was right next to the cup. In my eyes, it was meant to be that way. I’ll have my chance again.”
 
SM East won the Hilst Invitational for the fourth time and first since 2013. The Lancers’ team score was the second lowest four-man total in the tournament’s 55-year history, trailing only Sacred Heart’s 280 posted in 2018.
 
The battle for second was close, with Bishop Carroll, led by senior Max Farber’s 71, shooting 290. Kapaun Mt. Carmel took third at 293 and Blue Valley North was fourth at 294.
 
Seven golfers were under par Friday. Manhattan’s Charlie Haney finished third with a 3-under 69. Blue Valley North’s Drew Krystyn joined Bennish in the tie for fourth at 70, and Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Ryker Dondlinger matched Farber’s 71 to tie for sixth.
 
SM East also shot under par as a team in its Firekeeper Open/6A Preview victory, posting a 1-under 287 total on April 21.
 
“We’ve been so steady lately,” Boulware said. “It’s a great confidence boost for us going into regionals pretty soon and then state. The team’s been working really well together. Our group has never won this event as a team so it’s really good to get it done.”
 

RUSTY HILST INVITATIONAL
At Carey Park GC, par 72
 
Team scores – SM East 282, Bishop Carroll 290, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 293, BV North 294, De Soto 300, Andover 302, Wamego 303, Olathe South 304, BV Northwest 308, Blue Valley 308, Bishop Miege 309, Olathe West 311, Manhattan 311, Buhler 314, Washburn Rural 316, SM Northwest 322, Eisenhower 322, Gardner-Edgerton 323, Sacred Heart 327, Shawnee Heights 332, McPherson 335, Derby 336, Hutchinson 339, Salina Central 344, Maize 345, Topeka High 349, Salina South 352, SM West 353, Arkansas City 354, Junction City 357, Campus 371, Newton 372, Wichita Northwest 372, Wichita Heights 384, Topeka West 394.
 
Top individuals – 1. Stuart Boulware, SM East, 66; 2. Regan Kueker, Wamego, 67; 3. Charlie Haney, Manhattan, 69; 4. (tie) Hudson Bennish, SM East; Drew Krystyn, BV North, 70; 6. (tie) Ryker Dondlinger, Kapaun Mt. Carmel; Max Farber, Bishop Carroll, 71; 8. (tie) Elliott Cowden, SM East; Owen Young, Kapaun Mt. Carmel; Carson Yates, Olathe West; Joe Honn, BV Northwest; Cohen Hageman, Bishop Carroll, 72; 13. (tie) Kaden Leivian, Bishop Carroll; Breckin Miller, Wamego; TJ Spurlock, De Soto; Hunter Hedberg, De Soto, 73; 17. (tie); Grayson Kelso, Olathe South; Braeden Masterson, Bishop Carroll; Porter Howard, SM East; Seth Benjamin, Andover; James Nelson, BV North; Brody Fox, Andover; Patrick Smith, BV North; Carson Bachrodt, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 74; 25. (tie) Tate Edwards, Olathe South; Griffin Bloemker, Bishop Miege; Sam Lien, Bishop Miege; Thomas Payne, Salina Central, 75.