The Nixa boys golf team competed in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 3 Tournament on the Par 71 Course at Fremont Hills Country Club on May 6.

Per MSHSAA guidelines, the teams who finish in the top two advance to the state tournament, and after removing the player scores from the qualifying teams (district champion, runner-up), the remaining top 13, including ties, also advance to the state tournament.

Nixa did just that and extended its season an additional week.

In a district with 15 teams and 74 golfers, including Nixa, the Eagles finished second, three strokes behind district champion Ozark.

The Eagles scored 309 en route to its runner-up performance, besting Kickapoo by four strokes.

Nixa was led by two linksters who placed in the top 10. Senior Meyer Lively was the team's top performer, shooting one-over-par at 72, and tied for second with Ozark's Riley Franklin and Joplin's Harry Satterlee. Junior Noah Naugle was a mere one stroke behind Lively and finished +2 (73), placing fifth with Lee's Summit West's Lucas Timmons.

The Eagles' remaining three golfers placed in the top 34: senior Jackson McRoberts tied for 22nd at +10 (81), senior Dawson Huff tied for 31st at +12 (83), and sophomore Peyton Burbridge placed 34th at +13 (83).

With its team finish, the Eagles qualified their entire squad for the state tournament, marking Nixa's second consecutive berth. A year ago, Nixa placed sixth in the team standings with 625 points, shooting 312 on day one and 313 on day two. 

The Class 5 state tournament will be held May 13-14 at Meadow Lake Acres Country Club in New Bloomfield, Mo. (Jefferson City area). The first tee time for Nixa is 8:45 a.m.

Nixa is vying for a state trophy in a team field against Jackson, Lafayette, Marquette, Ozark, Park Hill South, Chaminade (defending champions), Rockhurst, and Francis Howell.

Individually, Lively and Naugle will be making their third straight state appearance, as the two qualified in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, Naugle placed 31st, and Lively ranked 58th, and in 2023, both tied for 27th with a score of 153. Burbridge was also a member of the 2023 state team and placed 49th at 158.

The Eagles' second-place finish also caps off their top-2 team finish at every tournament in the 2024 season, as Nixa was the champions of the Bolivar Invitational and COC Tournament, and finished as the runners-up of the Springfield Invitational.

The full Class 5 District 3 tournament results can be found here.
Additional Class 5 state tournament information can be found here.
Click here for video highlights of the tournament.
Click here for tournament photos.