Yates wins Kansas Four-Ball
Colby Yates, a 2012 Tonganoxie High grad, won the Kansas Four-Ball match play championship Sunday at Alvamar Golf Course in Lawrence.
Yates, the 2012 individually Class 4A state champion and a current golfer at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, teamed up with Russell’s Jordan Hecker to defeat Conrad Roberts and Bradley Lane in Sunday’s final, 6 and 5. In match play, teams earn one point each by winning individual holes. Yates and Hecker led by six with just five holes left, so the match was decided after hole No. 13. They combined for nine birdies.
The duo defeated three other teams to reach the championship round. They needed 21 holes to beat the team of Alex Higgs and Park Ulrich in the semifinals.
Yates has enjoyed plenty of success in his first two seasons at UMSL. He was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year after leading the Tritons with a 74.3 stroke average as a sophomore.