The Ankeny Centennial boys’ golf team managed to break 300 Monday on one of the state’s most difficult courses.
Crosstown rival Ankeny wasn’t as fortunate.
The Jaguars placed fourth among 18 teams in the Turk Bowman Invitational at Veenker Golf Course in Ames. They shot a 299 to tie Dallas Center-Grimes, but lost a tiebreaker for third place.
“I am happy with the way the team bounced back after a disappointing event on Wednesday at River Valley,” said Centennial coach Andrew Reedy.
Ankeny, meanwhile, finished in ninth. The Hawks posted a total of 319, by far their highest score of the season.
Ankeny and Centennial have now split six meetings this season. The Hawks had won the previous two battles.
“I didn’t feel like we played very well today,” said Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld. “We had too many bogeys or higher today, and I think missing fairways and putting is affecting our scores the most over the entire six guys.”
Top-ranked Valley, the defending Class 4A state champion, shot a 279 to easily win the meet. No. 2 Johnston was the runner-up with a 290.
Valley’s Braeden Nelson carded a 6-under-par 66 to earn medalist honors. Andrew Johannsen of Johnston placed second with a 68.
Charlie Morrissey fired a 71 to lead the Jaguars, placing fifth in a field of 107 players. He made an eagle on the par-5, No. 18 hole.
“Charlie played fantastic and has been been playing really well,” Reedy said. “He played well this weekend shooting rounds of 72 and 68, then followed it up with a 71 today at a difficult Veenker. He worked really hard on some stuff last week, and this is probably the best I have seen him hit it all season.”
Centennial’s Tiernan Logan shot a 75 to place 21st overall.
“Tiernan also struggled last week and went to work really hard,” Reedy said. “I am really proud of him for the work he put in and the way he bounced back.”
Nathan Boehlert shot a 76 for the Jaguars, while McCoy Miller had a 77. Jett Lovanh had an 82, and Jackson Lewis added an 88.
“Nathan is so close to breaking out. He played solid most of the round, but made one bad swing and we made one questionable decision to go for a par-5 in two over water. Hindsight is 20/20, but I wish he had that one back,” Reedy said. “McCoy didn’t have his best stuff today, but was able to hang tough and shoot a number we used. He is also close to a breakout I believe. We just hope they all keep getting more comfortable and peak at the right time for conference and districts.”
Duncan Beelner carded a 77 to lead Ankeny. Caden Weddingfeld had a 79.
“Duncan and Caden again led the way for us and played OK, but both had some mistakes that hurt their scores on the front nine,” coach Weddingfeld said. “They both played very well on the back, each shooting 37. We know Veenker is a challenging course, but looking at the scores of the other teams today it is obviously scorable and mentally I am not sure that we were thinking that way as we didn’t play the best there last year so I think some of the team already had it in their minds that they weren’t going to shoot their best before we even teed off.”
Kyler Crimmins shot an 81 for the Hawks. Gavin Ross had an 82, Evan Hodapp fired an 85, and Breck Hughes finished with an 86.
“We have to learn how to stay positive and just take each course the way it is playing that day and learn to adapt to the fast greens or the tight fairways or the tough pins,” Weddingfeld said. “Golf changes from day to day, and we need to figure out how to adapt to that.”
Both teams will be back in action on Wednesday. Centennial will host Southeast Polk and Waukee Northwest at Briarwood, while Ankeny will also play a CIML Conference triangular meet against Dowling Catholic and Waukee at Jester Park.