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Hunter Johnson got some bad news when he woke up on Saturday morning.
“Unfortunately day 2 of state golf has been cancelled due to course flooding,” Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld tweeted. “Great 1 day experience for Hunter and proud to coach him and the rest of the team this season.”
Johnson, a sophomore, carded a 5-over-par 76 in Friday’s opening round of the boys’ Class 4A meet at Brown Deer Golf Club in Coralville. He finished in a tie for 27th place after heavy rains forced the cancellation of the final 18 holes.
“When the round was done I was a little disappointed based on how I hit the ball,” Johnson said. “I had a triple (bogey) and a double (bogey) on two holes. I made mistakes trying to be too aggressive. If I stuck to my game plan I should have made par on both holes.”
Matthew Garside of Bettendorf was declared the individual state champion. He shot a 6-under 65 on Friday to finish three strokes ahead of Waukee’s Griffin Parker, who led the Warriors to the team title.
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Only six players finished with scores under par. Take away Johnson’s two bad holes and he would have been in contention for a top-10 finish.
“I hit the ball really well all day,” Johnson said. “My first birdie was an eight-inch tap in. I hit 11 fairways and 15 greens. On the front nine I missed five birdie putts inside of 10 feet. The greens were perfect–they were fast and they rolled them that morning. My putting stroke felt off, and I was pressing because I felt like I should have been making more putts.”
After a rough start, Johnson played his final 10 holes in even par.
“I had a good time with both coaches watching me all round,” Johnson said. “I’m happy with how my game developed the last three weeks of the season. We put in a lot of hard work, and I’m looking forward to getting back to state next year with my five teammates. I think we’re going to surprise some people.”