For the fifth time this season, the Ankeny boys’ golf team posted a score below 300 on Monday.
The fourth-ranked Hawks shot a 298 and placed second among eight squads in the Steve Spray Invitational at the Indianola Country Club. No. 8 Southeast Polk won the meet with a 289 total.
“I thought we had a good day today and was very happy with a second-place finish,” said Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld. “Obviously, Southeast Polk is a solid team and they shot a great score, but I felt we played well.”
The Rams had the top three individual finishers, led by medalist Aaron Estell with a 2-under-par 69. Sam Wahman was the runner-up with a 72.
Drew Hensen and Jacob Adams each shot a 73 to lead Ankeny, placing fourth and fifth, respectively. Evan Hodapp carded a 74 and placed eighth.
Caden Weddingfeld fired a 78 to provide the Hawks’ fourth scoring round.
“Duncan (Beelner) was out of town on vacation and he is usually our No. 2 or 3 guy so not having him it was nice to have Evan and Caden step up and count for us with two scores in the 70s,” Weddingfeld said. “Caden is still recovering from his wrist injury and Evan is not playing bad just not at the level he wants to be at so we have been working to get both of them back to shooting the lower scores that they are capable of shooting.”
Ankeny’s Kyler Crimmins shot a 79. Nick Meyer added an 82.
“I know all of the guys were barely missing putts all day, and it took us some time to adjust to the greens,” Weddingfeld said. “The boys said they were the fastest greens we have played this year so it was a challenge to figure them out, especially early in the round. It is hard to go to a new golf course and adjust to the greens after playing all weekend on our home courses; that is one of the biggest challenges in high school golf. Had we putted better I know we could have lowered our scores and given Southeast Polk a little more of a run for first place, but all in all it was a good day and I am proud of the team.”
The Hawks will face the Rams again on Wednesday when they compete in the Southeast Polk Invitational at Copper Creek.