Trenton Senior Overcomes Early Struggles, Finishes 28th At State

Five holes into the MSHSAA Girls Golf Championships at Mozingo Lake Golf Course near Maryville, the final tournament in the high school career of Werthen Gass wasn’t going great. The weather delayed the tournament’s start and a rules discussion in the group ahead added a second delay for Gass. On the scorecard, Trenton’s lone state qualifier was 10 strokes over par.
But Gass was determined not to let the rough start define her third trip to state. The Trenton senior parred her sixth and her eighth holes. By the time Gass finished the first round – doing so early on Tuesday morning thanks to another weather delay – she had four total pars. She would add six more pars and a birdie in her second round, giving her a final score of 192 for the two-day event – good for a 28th-place finish, her highest in three trips to the state tournament.
The early struggles were glaring on the first-day scorecard that showed Gass with a 51 on her first nine – the back nine after she started the tournament on the 10th hole.
Gass’ performance on the front nine of her opening round was a much-improved 46, however, vaulting her back up the leaderboard into a tie for 28th. She would hold that position through Tuesday’s second round, carding nine-hole splits of 48 and 47 to shoot a 95 on day two.
“Werthen played very well at times, but occasionally gave some back around and on the greens,” Trenton Coach Travis Mullenix said. “However, she also made a bunch of great putts. She was striking the ball very well off the tee and with her hybrids throughout the tournament. The opportunities were there but at times we just weren’t able to capitalize on them to move up the leaderboard to a top-15 finish. With that said, Werthen really had a good tournament. She was able to finish higher than last year and played some really good golf in some pretty tough conditions. She beat a lot of solid golfers the last two days.”
The 95 was just one stroke off Gass’s personal best for an 18-hole round in a state tournament. She carded a 94 last year on the opening day of state at the Columbia Country Club. That would be her only score as rain eliminated the second round. As a sophomore in 2016, Gass shot 102 on both the first and second day at state – held that year at Meadow Lake Acres in New Bloomfield.
Gass closed her career with Trenton with the tournament. She brought Trenton back to state after the Bulldogs failed to send a girls’ golfer to the premier high school tournament in the state for three consecutive years from 2013-2015. That changed when Gass qualified as a sophomore and did so each year after as well.
“Werthen has had one of the best careers of a Trenton High School lady golfer and I am very proud of all her accomplishments,” Mullenix said. “She’s been one of the most dedicated and hardworking student athletes I’ve had the pleasure of coaching and will be missed for her contributions on the golf course, as well as her ability to make me simply shake my head.
“It was fun. I was able to walk with her for the entire round both days and being her last go-round, I really enjoyed that opportunity.”
Kayla Pfitzner and Reagan Zibilski, both of Springfield Catholic, were the top two individual finishers at the 2018 tournament. Pfitzner won the individual state title with a score of 154, two strokes ahead of her teammate, and runner-up, Zibilski, who finished at 156.
Despite the one-two finish for Springfield Catholic, John Burroughs won the team title, carding a score of 701 for the tournament and besting Springfield Catholic’s 703 by a mere two strokes.