Emporia Municipal Golf Course, May 27: Accustomed to playing the most challenging courses that Johnson County provides, area golfers might feel less constrained when they tee off at today's Kansas Class 6A state championship. That's because the one-day, 18-hole tournament is being held at Emporia Municipal Golf Course, which features wide fairways and big greens. In other words, there will be plenty of room for golfers to make mistakes. "You can spray the ball a little bit, there's not a lot of trees," said Blue Valley West coach Jeff Walton, whose squad is among the favorites for the team title. "You don't necessarily have to keep the ball in play to get a good score. That's going to level the playing field for everybody." The course layout should translate into a very crowded leaderboard. Because of the tournament's one-day schedule, the high school golf championship is often an unpredictable event. Even more so this year. "As wide open as it is, as short as it is," Walton said, "we're thinking that anything can happen." BV West won the 5A state title last season before being reclassified to 6A this year. The Jaguars won the regional played at Leawood South last Monday and junior Zach Pederson earned medalist honors. BV West has won three tournaments this season, including the prestigious Hutchinson Invitational, which included teams from all over the state. Other participating teams will include last year's 6A state champion Olathe East, Lawrence, Shawnee Mission South, St. Thomas Aquinas and BV Northwest. Three of the top five finishers from last season's state tournament will return in BV Northwest's Emory Dease, SM Northwest's Cole Chimelewski and St. Thomas Aquinas' Mike Robben. The 5A state championship will also be held today at Quail Ridge Golf Course in Winfield, Kan. Two area teams -- Blue Valley and Gardner-Edgerton -- will be competing for the state title. Blue Valley secured its berth by winning the regional at Paola Country Club last Monday. The team is led by two youngsters in freshman Adam Blue and sophomore Brandon Hermreck. Both shared medalist honors at the regional. Bureau Report