Bulldogs freshman Aiden Knipfel admits that he was nervous as he teed up for his first round of competitive high school golf. How long did the spell last?

“About four or five holes,” he said.

Despite battling opening day tension and soggy conditions, Knipfel managed to card a 42 on Wednesday evening at Arthur Hills Golf Course in Mexico to lead all comers.

The quad pitted the Bulldogs against teams from Louisiana, Hannibal and Centralia. But the common foe was the course. After a Tuesday downpour, hitting a ball even inches off the fairway could invite triple bogey disaster, with pools of mud the main culprit.

“It was super wet, muddy, cold,” observed Grant Qualls. “My bones are brittle.”

Hannibal took the team competition, shooting 181 over nine holes. Centralia was second on the leaderboard at 196. Mexico was just five strokes behind, coming in third at 201. Louisiana lagged behind, with 257 strokes.

The Bulldogs’ hopes for second faded late in the round. Qualls, who was on pace to shoot a 44, ran into trouble on the final three holes. Each time, a solid drive was betrayed by an errant fairway shot. He ended up with a 51.

“I got to play,” he said, reflecting on the lost 2020 campaign. “I’m ready for the rest of the season.”

Every golfer on the course battled the conditions. Knipfel double bogeyed on 5 and 9. But gained a stroke when he birdied on 7.

“I hit a lot of chunks, and I topped the ball,” he said. “But I feel like I played decent.”

Geoffrey Penn and Jackson Unger both fired 54s, playing steady rounds. Penn parred his second hole, number 5 on the shotgun start and picked up a birdie on 9. Unger only had real trouble once, otherwise putting in a reliable performance.

Landon Love scored 56.

Midway through the round most of the field donned jackets as temperatures plummeted. It was a true springtime event.

But it was also a round of competitive golf, the first in two years.

“The weather, the wet – nobody quit,” said Mexico head coach Timothy Schoonover. “This is going to be a good season.”