O'FALLON, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff's odyssey to play the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 golf tournament ended Friday in the twilight at The Links at Dardenne, four days after leaving home.
The Mules ended up fourth, missing the sectional cut as a team by three strokes, as Nathan Woolard and Justin Capps advanced individually.
"They tried hard, it just wasn't our day," Mules coach Billy Pyland said. "There's been a lot of times we've won like that. We've been lucky."
Woolard placed second with a 4-over-par 74, one shot behind Jackson's Tanner Walton. Capps tied for fifth at 76 but Ryan Bridgewater and Justin Pierce both shot 87 and missed the individual cut by three shots as four players tied for 20th. Analeise Pyland, a senior, shot 95.
Poplar Bluff's 324 was two strokes behind Mehlville and Oakville, which tied for the final team qualifying spot, as Vianney won the title with a 316. Mehlville took second on a tiebreaker, 88-93.
The tournament nearly didn't get complete due to darkness, Coach Pyland said, and the Mules could have advanced had it been reduced to nine holes. Two days earlier, the Mules got off to a rough start in the rain at a completely different course before play was stopped.
"The way I was playing it didn't look like I was going to make the cut," Capps said of his start Wednesday.
Capps said he was more confident at The Links.
His round featured 10 pars and a birdie on the par-3 17th when his pitching wedge landed within 3 feet of the hole and nearly spun off the green. The senior sank a 12 footer to get to 6-over then finished with a par on the par-5 final hole.
Capps was 5-over at the turn after bogeys on four of his previous six holes. An up-and-down for par on the par-3 seventh snapped a bogey string.
"That really just turned my round around," Capps said.
Woolard was 1-over at the turn with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-4 fourth. But a double-bogey on the par-3 10th came when his tee shot missed to the left. On 14, the junior hit a knock-down 7-iron to within 3 feet of the hole for a birdie putt to get to 3-over.
Walton, playing in a group behind Woolard, also finished at 3-over for medalist honors. Woolard pull-hooked an 8-iron on his approach on the par-5 18th from 110 yards and he two-putted for a bogey to end up at 4-over.
"The wind was pretty strong there," Woolard said. "Kind of crazy. Made the greens firmer and faster."
Woolard and Capps will play Monday at The Landings at Spirit Golf Club in Chesterfield in the sectional, which was originally scheduled to be played at Tapawingo Golf Course, now flooded by the Meramec River.
The district tournament was originally scheduled to be played at Aberdeen Golf Course in Eureka but was under the Meramec, which also threatened to close all bridges leading to St. Louis County. The Mules left Tuesday, a day before the rescheduled tournament was to be played at the Missouri Bluffs in St. Charles, and made it across the swollen river before Interstate 55 closed.
Heavy rain stopped play Wednesday with Woolard getting in only eight holes but play could not resume at Missouri Bluffs the following day because of all the water. Instead, the tournament was restarted Friday at The Links at Dardeene in O'Fallon.
The Mules were unable to play a practice round at The Links but were able to walk the course the day before teeing off.
"I think that helped a lot," Woolard said. "Guys in my group never played it before. They didn't know where to hit it."
Coach Pyland couldn't tell if the long week away from home help or hurt his team on the course. They weren't alone as Fox and Seckman also needed to stay at hotels due to the flooding.
"We hit balls every day, that helped a lot," Woolard said. "I felt like we stayed pretty loose."
Still, it was a long week.
"They were ready to come home," Coach Pyland said. "I enjoyed them. We all had a great time. It was a tough week."