ST. LOUIS — Brad Nurski’s last major venture turned into a one-stroke disappointment.

The St. Joseph amateur golfer enters this week’s Missouri Amateur Championship knowing the strokes don’t mean everything. The five-day tournament begins today at WingHaven Country Club with the first of two rounds of stroke play.

On Thursday, the field is trimmed to 64 and placed into a match-play bracket. The winner of five 18-hole matches and one 36-hole final will be the champion.

“Even if you don’t win the stroke play, you still have a chance to win the tournament,” Nurski said. “That’s always the good thing. When you get to match play, anything can happen.”

Nurski has never advanced past the round of 64 at the Missouri Amateur but still hopes to win one. He’s one of six local golfers teeing it up today after qualifying in the top 15 earlier this month at Creekmoor Golf Club.

Brian Haskell’s back for another go after finishing as runner-up in 2006.

The 42-year-old St. Joseph resident continues to keep up with Missouri’s best amateurs. He won the qualifying tournament at Creekmoor with an even-par 72, one stroke better than Cameron graduate Andrew Hatten.

Haskell hopes a win is still within his reach.

“Getting older every year,” Haskell said. “I’d have to play awful well and get a few breaks. But like I said, I try to get in the top 64 and go from there.”

But one of his main strengths — his long tee balls — are partly taken away with WingHaven’s setup.

The 7,230-yard, par 72 course features tight fairways and potential hazards off of many. According to Haskell, there are places 20 yards off the fairway that can easily result in a lost ball.

Both Haskell and Nurski emphasized the value of pars during stroke play with the driver taken out of the equation in many instances for big hitters.

“Everybody’s playing from the same spot,” Haskell said. “It comes down to short irons or medium irons and putting. If you want to take a gamble, you could easily lose one and put up a big number.”

Haskell and Nurski played a practice round Monday with two local first-time qualifiers — Cameron and Missouri Western graduate Mitch Girres and Central graduate/Western golfer Dan Crawford.

Girres qualified in his first attempt with a 78 at Creekmoor to finish in the top 10. He missed the deadline for a qualifying attempt last year.

The 2007 Western graduate has little experience with the combo format and nearly no match-play experience at all.

He knows getting to match play is the first goal.

“Not ever playing it and not ever playing here before, you just keep it realistic and try to play your game,” Girres said. “You’re always in it (in match play). You can make a 10 on one hole and come back and win the next one, and you’re back to even.”

Crawford made his second qualification attempt this year.

He missed the mark last year after playing two bad final holes, but shot a solid 76 at Creekmoor this year. Crawford said he leaned on the experiences of Nurski and Haskell during the practice round, saying, “You’ve got a former runner-up and an alternate for the U.S. Open. Those are two pretty good examples.”

Crawford said he plays better with top-notch players like Haskell and Nurski and doesn’t think the big-time atmosphere will hamper him.

“You still just have to play each hole as best you can,” he said. “It’s still just trying to put the ball in the hole.”

Assistant sports editor Ross Martin can be reached at rossmartin@npgco.com

Correction: A golfer from Cameron, Mo., was misidentified on Page D1 of Tuesday’s edition, due to a reporter’s error. The golfer’s name is Andrew Hatten.