The bar has been raised for boys’ golf teams in Class 4A.
What used to be a winning score against other large-school squads might now only be good enough for a middle-of-the-pack finish in an invitational.
“A 290 is now our new 300,” said Ankeny Centennial coach Andrew Reedy. “We will have to break 290 in order to win events against other CIML teams and the best teams in the state.”
Centennial carded a 293 on Tuesday in the Fort Dodge Invitational at the Fort Dodge Country Club. The Jaguars placed fourth in the 16-team field.
“Overall, I am happy with how we scored,” Reedy said. “But we certainly still have some mistakes to clean up.”
Ankeny, meanwhile, finished in seventh place with a 308. The Hawks had posted a 299.3 average over their previous three meets.
“We played OK today, but we didn’t have anyone go low and our competition is really good so we ended up in the middle of the pack,” said Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld, whose team was unable to defend its crown. “We started on the most difficult holes on the course and I think all the guys made bogeys or worse on their first several holes so our start was not the best, but we rallied as a team on the second nine. I am proud of the guys for hanging in there and not giving up.”
Dallas Center-Grimes shot a 287 to capture the team title. Waukee Northwest was the runner-up with a 290, edging Norwalk by a stroke.
Gavin Drake of Dallas Center-Grimes, Blake Cronin of Northwest and Ian Lux of Norwalk each fired a 2-under-par 69. Drake earned medalist honors on a cardoff, while Cronin was the runner-up.
Nathan Boehlert shot a 70 to lead Centennial. He earned a fourth-place finish.
Boehlert made three birdies on the front nine and another one on the No. 15 hole.
“Nathan had one mishap on No. 13, but other than that played great golf today!” Reedy said. “He had some struggles our last time out with his ball striking, but we figured some things out from an equipment standpoint and worked hard to improve the last week. I am proud of him for that.”
McCoy Miller placed 14th for the Jaguars with a 73. Tiernan Logan took 16th with a 74.
“Tiernan stepped up for the second event in a row,” Reedy said. “He’s not hitting it exactly how he wants but he is scoring, which is the important part. A lot of people don’t understand how hard that is–to not be hitting it well and still salvage a good number. Our team is full of guys that will scrape and claw and battle the whole way through to help their team. I’m super proud of all of them for that.”
Centennial’s Jackson Lewis shot a 76. Charlie Morrissey had a 78, and Jett Lovanh added an 80.
Caden Weddingfeld led Ankeny with a 76. Duncan Beelner and Evan Hodapp each carded a 77, Kyler Crimmins and Gavin Ross each had a 78, and Breck Hughes finished with an 80.
“I was happy with five of our six guys shooting in the 70s and especially happy with Gavin and Breck as neither had ever played the course so they didn’t always know the best way to play some of the holes there,” Weddingfeld said. “We did leave a lot of strokes on the course. When we talked on the drive home, we noticed that a couple of the guys struggled putting and five of the six guys struggled hitting fairways so we definitely have some things to work on. Fort Dodge is a tight course with lots of trees and some tricky holes so missing fairways can really affect your ability to have a good look at the greens on your second shot. If you look at our front and back nine scores, we shot much better on the front which was our second nine holes.”
Both Ankeny and Centennial will compete in the Northwest Invitational on Thursday at The Legacy Golf Club in Norwalk.