Country Club’s 2008 Kids Klub Golf Championship winners announced

MARY BAILEY
For the Courier-Post

Threatening skies and wet conditions did nothing to dampen the spirits of 42 enthusiastic junior golfers who participated in the 2nd Annual Kids Klub Championship held on Thursday, June 26.  The tournament was the much anticipated culmination of the three-week Junior Golf Clinic offered at the Hannibal Country Club and taught by PGA certified professional Jeffrey Kent.
Nearly 50 young people between the ages of 4 and 16 took part in the lessons during the month of June. The goal of the Kids Klub was to teach the fundamentals of the sport, which include rules of safe play and the important aspects of golf etiquette. Throughout the clinic, Jeffrey used a variety of fun and unique training drills geared to the skill level of each age group.
Jeffrey was assisted during the championship by numerous parent volunteers who walked along with the “pee wee” golfers (ages 3-6) to help keep score and to ensure the safety of these young athletes as they played a shortened two-hole format. Course marshals rode along with the older players who played more holes and a longer venue to complete the championship.
Excitement and anticipation ran high as the tournament began. The assembled gallery remained respectfully quiet as each participant teed the ball up and hit that scary first shot to begin his round. Every player received encouraging cheers and applause during the event.
As the flights finished, scores were quickly posted on the “Event Board” by the pro. Anxious youngsters munched on cookies and gathered around the score sheet to calculate who the winners would be.  Jeffrey not only provided trophies for the low scorer in each age group, but presented a medal to every child who “graduated” from the Kids Club golf camp. 
The low scorers of the championship by flights were:
Ages 3-6:  Max Boland, son of Bobbie and Lynn Boland
Ages 7-10: Trevor Watson, son of Lee Ann and Chris Watson
Ages 11-13:  Charlie Bauman, son of Richard and Debbie Baumann
Ages 14-18:  Greg Baldwin, son of Clay and April Baldwin
The complete list of youngsters who completed the golf clinic include:
(Ages 3-6) Heath Barrett, Abbey Baumann, Preston Bennett, Lydia Boland, Cami Bross, Connor Gilmore, Miranda Gilmore, Jack Kirby, Avery Schuenke, Keaton Scott, Katie Smith, Courtland Watson, and  Drew Tweedy.
(Ages 7-10) Elise Baumann, Jack Baumann, Connor Bross, John Maune, Jack Richards, Kasen Rodeman, Kyler Rodeman, Richy Lynn Rodgers, Caleb Smith, Luke Smith, Amanda Swanson, Noah Ward, Brendan Watson, Trevor Watson, John Jon Zielinski, and Samantha Zielinski.
(Ages 11-13) Alec Abel, Alex Addison, Charlie Baumann, Scott Cockrell, Abby Conn, Connor Doyle, Andrew Gilstrap, Sean Kraus, Gus Meyer, Andrew Richards, Kael Rodeman, Thomas Rodgers, Alec Voss, and Sarah Zielinski.