Recent Blue Valley High School graduate Chance Rinkol won the Kenneth Smith Award on Wednesday as the top boys high school golfer in the Kansas City metro.
Sponsored by the Kenneth L. and Eva S. Smith Foundation, the award is presented each year to the area’s top male and female golfers. (And Blue Valley seems to be putting out some good ones: Hadley Neese won the girls Kenneth Smith Award last winter as junior .)
Nominees, submitted by golf coaches and athletic directors, are judged in four areas:
- performance in high school golf tournaments
- academic achievement
- leadership on the golf team and in other aspects of school
- community service through school, church or other activities.
Rinkol, who will compete this fall as a freshman for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes men’s golf team, started off his high school golf career by winning the 2021 Kansas Class 6A state championship. He helped lead Blue Valley to state team titles in both 2021 and 2022.
As noted in his Iowa Hawkeyes bio, Rinkol had “a scoring average of 70.8 in 2023, improving his stroke average four strokes from 2022.” He was ranked No. 46 on the Rolex Class of 2024 ranking.
Said Blue Valley golf coach Allen Terrell: “Chance completely changed the culture of our golf program by modeling work ethic, drive, integrity and professionalism through his leadership.
“In my 25 years of coaching, I have never had an individual player more responsible for the success of our program. He has helped us win two team state championships, along with setting the standard of what a Blue Valley golfer should be.”
As a Blue Valley senior, Rinkol won five out of nine tournaments in which he played, including the tourney for the Eastern Kansas League championship. He went on to win the Class 6A regional tournament at Heritage with a score of 69.
His final tally on state-tourney courses as a high schooler reads like this: one state title; one runner-up finish; one ninth-place showing; and a tie for 11th. In all, Rinkol won one of every three tournaments in which he competed during his four-year prep career.
Rinkol also excelled in the classroom, earning a cumulative GPA of 4.06 on a 4.0 scale and garnering top honors each semester.
According to a news release announcing the Kenneth Smith Award, Rinkol “personally organized and managed two charity events each year: one has raised over $21,000 for Christmas Families Inc. (which has provided over 200 disadvantaged kids with bikes and helmets) and the other has raised over $7,000 for Watson Links (which provides kids an opportunity to play golf alongside a mentor). Chance also volunteered each summer to assist with youth golf.”
In recognition of Rinkol’s achievements, the Kenneth L. and Eva S. Smith Foundation is contributing $5,000 to First Tee of Greater Kansas City to support its child development programs.
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