When the boys’ golf season kicks off next week, the Ankeny Centennial squad will feature a new lineup as well as a rookie coach.
Former Ankeny player Andrew Reedy has been hired to take over the program from Rick Fee, who resigned from the position last fall to spend more time with his family. Fee had been a part of the program since it began in 2013 and guided the Jaguars to four state-meet appearances over the last eight seasons.
“I feel like the kids have been receptive so far to a new face,” said Reedy. “My favorite saying of all time as a coach is: ‘They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.’ That has been my focus so far–to make sure I care and will be their biggest advocate in golf or whatever else they need from me.”
Reedy said there are 46 players in grades 10-12 who have signed up to try out for the team. Another 25 to 30 freshmen will compete for coach Christopher Harken.
“Tryouts will be 54 holes (over three days this week), and the kids that shoot the top 24 total scores will make up the varsity/JV team,” Reedy said. “The nature of our sport and limited access to golf courses in Ankeny necessitates limiting the number of kids that are on the team. My hope is that the kids who do not make the team this year will use it as motivation to improve and try out again next season. Further, I hope they will continue to play golf in whatever capacity they can as it is a sport they can enjoy for their entire lives.”
Senior Zach Hoffman is the top returning player from a team that posted a 3-5 record in the CIML Conference. He played in 11 events a year ago and ranked second on the team with a 78.5 average.
Hoffman shot a 73 to place fifth in the Waukee Northwest Invitational at The Legacy Golf Club. He later carded an 82 in a Class 4A district meet at Blank Golf Course, where the Jaguars missed qualifying for state by just three strokes.
Seniors Tate Logan, Logan Sease and Kaden Schulz are among the other returnees. Logan played in four events last season and had a scoring average of 81.2, Sease played in three events at had an average of 87.0, and Schulz played in two events and had an average of 86.0.
“We have had a lot of kids playing in events this summer, which is great!” Reedy said. “The more competitive golf they can play, the better. Tate had a really nice round in the second round of a two-day event, firing a 69 at Pheasant Ridge in Cedar Falls. That allowed him to have a pretty high finish.”
Sophomore McCoy Miller could be one of the new faces in the Jaguars’ lineup. He won twice this summer in the 14-15 year old division on the Iowa PGA circuit.
“One of them was a qualifier that allowed him to go to Florida and play in an event called the Optimist International with kids from all over the world,” Reedy said. “It was such a great experience for him!”
Nathan Boehlert, Charlie Morrisey, Jackson Lewis, Jett Lovahn, Austin Dixon, Tiernan Logan, Kinnick Nelson and Ricky Beckwith are some other players who could contribute at the varsity level.
“I’ve seen all of those guys playing in summer events,” Reedy said.
Centennial will host the Jesse Peck Invitational on Monday at Briarwood Golf Club. The Jaguars placed second at last year’s tournament behind Southeast Polk.
Reedy said the team will have some internal discussions as the season progresses about the Jaguars’ goals.
“Initially, I would say my personal goal is to help each kid to get better in all areas,” he said. “Golf is such a great game for many reasons; one is that it mimics life in a lot of ways. Each shot is a new challenge. Viewed with the previous poor shot in mind, it can be overwhelming and have negative performance effects. But if we can rinse that poor shot, learn what we need to learn from it and focus on the shot ahead, we’ve just used the ‘failure’ to get better instead of allowing it to snowball.
“That’s my biggest goal–help the kids understand that from a golf perspective and from a life perspective,” he added.