Cassville aims to level up with deep squad

BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

Cassville Boys Golf Coach Clayton Bagby did not set out goals for his squad this spring, and with three All-Conference golfers and one state qualifier, the par has now been set for what defines future success.

Sophomore Cheney Kelley played the longest this season, tying for 7th place at the Class 3, District 3 Tournament in Nevada to qualify for 2025 Boys Golf State at Twin Hills Country Club in Joplin. In the 92-man field, Kelley finished tied for 64th with a two-day 172 (85 and 87).

As a team over the course of the season, Bagby said improvement was continual, and the future is bright.

“I believe this was an overall successful season for Cassville golf,” he said. “As far as team achievements, we had multiple top-5 finishes, with the best finish coming in 2nd place at Aurora, and lowest coming in at 7th place a couple of times in tournaments with 20 schools, mostly larger.

“Individually, we had four different players earn medals in tournaments, and Aiden McBroom, Dennis Craig, and Tyson Bohmke all earned All-Conference. Cheney earned All-District and qualified for state.”

The Aurora finish, Bagby said, was the highlight of the season, as well as the postseason accolades. What made those possible, he added, was how the Wildcats made strides across the board.

“I think from the previous season, the improvement that Tyson and Kaleb made in their individual game was very impressive,” Bagby said. “Their improvement was a big factor in the overall improvement in team finishes this year.

“Golf is a hard game, and big numbers can happen fast. Continued learning of the game and course management to try and avoid turning a bogey into a double or triple will be big going forward. The boys have a lot of talent and will have a lot of opportunity next year to earn some medals, and every shot matters.”

Depth also aided Cassville, and it will in the future, as well.

“We had a deep team this year in the fact we had eight kids that had potential to play varsity,” Bagby said. “Next year should be the same, and getting better starts with others pushing you. Seven of those eight should be returning and should push each other to keep getting better.”

Bagby said he believes his team would say they have more in the bag, and work in the offseason will help unleash it.

“For me being new to the program, I didn’t really set any goals out front for the team,” he said. “I believe overall it was a successful season, and continued improvement for these boys started the year before. I believe the boys would say they believe they can show better than they did at times, and many of them will spend a lot of time at the golf course before next March making sure they are as prepared as possible to improve again next season.

“I think we will have the ability to start competing for some team tournament titles, as well as looking to consistently medal individuals within those tournaments.”