Ankeny golfer Duncan Beelner had one of the best rounds of his high school career on Thursday.
If only a few more putts would have dropped, it could have been even better.
Beelner carded a 2-under-par 70 to lead the Hawks to a second-place finish in a season-opening boys’ triangular meet at River Valley Golf Course in Adel. Blake Cronin of Waukee Northwest also shot a 70, but Beelner earned medalist honors on a cardoff.
“I was very proud of Duncan and how he played,” said Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld. “It was awesome to watch him play and glad he was able to pull off the tie-breaking victory. He birdied the first hole and the last, and he had nothing but pars in between. He had a lot of good birdie looks, but just couldn’t get the putts to drop. Sometimes when that is happening it gets frustrating with the putter, but Duncan is a very easy-going kid and he was happy to just keep playing his game. He was very consistent today, and that’s what it takes to play good golf.”
Ankeny shot a 305 against two of its CIML Conference rivals. Waukee Northwest won the meet with a 290 total, while Urbandale finished with a 374.
“I know everyone wishes they could get a couple holes back that cost them some extra strokes, but It was good to get the first win of the season under our belt,” Weddingfeld said. “And hats off to Waukee Northwest as 290 is a great team score and tough to beat.”
Beelner made a long putt for a birdie on the par-4, No. 1 hole. He later ended his round with another birdie on the par-4 18th.
Beelner’s par on the par-5 No. 5 hole proved to be the tiebreaker. Cronin had a bogey on the course’s most difficult hole.
Kyler Crimmins placed fifth overall for the Hawks with a 74. Evan Hodapp took seventh with a 78.
Crimmins had birdies on both the No. 9 and 11 holes.
“Kyler and Evan also played well on a course that none of the guys had seen or played before (Wednesday) when they came over and played for the first time,” Weddingfeld said. “It is a course with some very interesting holes and tough greens as I did not see very many putts dropping from any of the three teams.”
Ankeny’s Breck Hughes and Gavin Ross both carded an 83 in their varsity debuts. Caden Weddingfeld added an 87 for the Hawks.
“We would have liked to get that fourth score in the 70s, but I was proud of the team today as we had a couple new varsity players and I am sure they were a little nervous playing for their high school team for the first time,” Weddingfeld said.
Colin Corcoran led Urbandale with a 90.
Ankeny will compete in the Jesse Peck Invitational on Monday at Briarwood Golf Club.