Golfers back to back state champs

The Bobcat golf team was welcomed home by family, friends and the fire department Saturday night as they returned to town as back-to-back State Golf Champions in 2A.

The State Tournament was held in Lusk this year with the Cats coming out on top with a two-day total of 721, a full 35 strokes ahead of the number two team, Big Horn.

Hardy Johnson garnered the number one spot individually for the second year in a row with a two-day total of 144, coming out ahead of Nick Summers of Tongue River by 20 strokes.

Other varsity golfers included number seven, Hadley Johnson (180); number 12, Jeffry Clark (193); number 18, Will Clark (204) and number 28, Seth Weyer (236).

The Johnson brothers were also named to the All State 2A Team at the tournament.

"I feel this is a culmination of the hard work that all of the kids have put in over the last year," coach Brandon Deromedi said. "It is definitely hard to get to the top of the mountain but it can be even harder to stay there when all of the attention is on you. The boys put in so much time and effort into improving their game in the off-season and over the summer. Golf is definitely not a sport that can be played for 2 months a year and expect to get better."

The team finished day one ahead of Big Horn by 10 strokes. 

"I know I was uncomfortable with that lead and I believe all of the boys would say the same," Deromedi said. "We spent quite a bit of time Friday evening breaking down Friday's rounds, evaluating the course, evaluating Saturday's weather forecast and setting a game plan to be given the title of state champions on Saturday. 

"All the players and I were on edge as we knew that our rounds weren't as good as we had hoped while Saturday's round unfolded. Luckily for us we weren't the only ones who's scores increased from day one to day two."

The team not only beat all team scores from 2019 at State, they also beat their own team score from last year when they posted 801 compared to this year's 721.

"I was so impressed by the ability of the boys to not use the weather as an excuse," Deromedi said. "They showed up Saturday morning with the attitude that they would find a way and as the rounds started coming together they were able to stay positive even though many shot some of the worst rounds of the year. 

"We talked all season about how important it is to remain optimistic during tough rounds because often times our competitors are also experiencing tough rounds. The kids began to buy into that idea and seemed to become mentally stronger as the season progressed. 

"I am so proud as a coach of these kids and have enjoyed every step of the way.  They are a great group of kids with an incredible work ethic and desire to be successful.  I look forward to the continued work with them!"