Still, that shouldn't deter the Wright City junior from his development on the course this year. And it has nothing with to do with hitting longer off the tee or having the latest cutting-edge technology in his hands. No, the improvement occurred between his ears. "It's become a lot more from taking chances to being more like, 'Oh, I'm going to do this,' " he said. "I will lay up or taker a safer shot than risking things." Pluchinski overcame the unpredictable greens at Woods Fort Golf Course in Troy to salvage a 20-over-par 90 last Tuesday. The score was good enough to place him seventh in the Class 2, District 2 field and earn him a second state trip to state. He will play Monday and Tuesday at the Class 2 championships held at Deer Lakes Golf Course in Springfield. "I am relieved, but I am pretty excited," Pluchinski said. "I am ready to go back." He's ready to make amends for what he describes as a embarrassing performance a year ago. Playing at Bolivar's Silo Ridge Golf and Country Club, Pluchinski shot a 20-over 92 on the first day of competition and then followed up with a 96. Pluchinski's two-day total of 188 ranked him 110th, not exactly a finish that has a good ring to it. "That's not what I shoot," he said. "It's not what you want to happen. Especially at state, you want everybody to see what you can do. I definitely need to go down there and show people what I can do." Pluchinski wants to utilize what he learned last year as he attempted to go toe-to-toe with the state's best. "It's a lot of good golfers," he said. "You pretty much don't want to hang with them. You want to do what you do." What Pluchinski does best is work around the greens. At districts, he survived the inconsistent putting greens. Despite several three putts, no birdies and only four pars, he found a way to salvage a respectable score. It's that type of perseverance and calmness that should benefit Pluchinski this year at state. "I just want him to go out and play his game," Wright City Coach Bill Schaffer said. "He will do fine. If he plays his game the way he knows how to play it, he will do well at state. I hope he has a great experience and accomplishes what he is capable of." In preparation for his first look at Deer Lake, Pluchinski said he will spend this Sunday's practice round playing several balls on each holes trying to learn the course's characteristics. Come Monday, he hopes the familiarity helps calms the nerves he will encounter when his named is called at the first tee. "You don't know where you're going to be the next day on a hole," Pluchinski said. Regardless, Pluchinski is not going to let the hype of this year's state berth faze him. "I pretty much want to go down there and post some good scores and see what happens," he said. "I like to expect great things from myself, but I really don't know."