On Tuesday, the Ankeny boys’ golf team finished just seven stokes behind sixth-ranked Valley, the Class 4A state champion in 2023 and last year’s third-place finisher.
On some days, that might have been good enough to allow the Hawks to earn a third consecutive trip to the state meet.
But on this particular sunny day, it wasn’t nearly enough.
Ankeny shot a 327 and placed eighth in a district meet at Copper Creek Golf Course. The 14-team field was so loaded that Valley could only manage a sixth-place finish with its 320 total.
Several of the teams had played the same course at the Southeast Polk Invitational on Sept. 24, when the Hawks shot a 314.
“Today was not the way we wanted to end our season, shooting our highest score of the season, but I know the guys gave it their all,” said Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld. “I don’t know if it was the pressure of knowing this could be our last meet, but we just didn’t play up to our potential today. Having six seniors on our varsity roster sounds like we would have lots of experience but for four of the guys it was their first district event and knowing we had to get top three or the season and their high school golf careers were over is a lot of pressure.”
No. 4 Dowling Catholic was one of the few teams to improve its score from 13 days ago. The Maroons posted a 294 total to capture the team title.
No. 18 Southeast Polk shot a 301 on its home course to place second. No. 11 Norwalk took third with a 308 and also qualified for the state meet, which will be held next Monday and Tuesday at Hyperion Field Club in Johnston.
“We knew going into today that we had a tough road to make it to state,” Weddingfeld said. “Hats off to the top three teams and especially Southeast Polk as they definitely surprised some people. I guess that shows the advantage of playing on your home course, and they seized that opportunity.”
Dowling’s Dewell Anderson fired a 69 to earn medalist honors. His teammate, Elijah Anderson, was the runner-up with a 72.
Ankeny was led by Ryan Constable. He carded a 79 to place 21st in the individual standings.
Elliott McHose, the team’s No. 6 player, shot an 81 for the Hawks. Chase Ortega had an 83, and Griffen Beelner added an 84 for the final scoring round.
Riley Dueker carded an 86. Gavin Ross, Ankeny’s No. 1 player, struggled to an 88.
“(Assistant coach) Curt (Ingham) and I had a great year with this group,” Weddingfeld said. “They worked hard all year, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team when it comes to their work ethic and just being all-around great kids. Win or lose, when you have great kids it makes coaching a lot of fun and I appreciate all 24 kids on the team for making it a very enjoyable year. I wish the best for all 10 of my seniors and look forward to working with the rest of the team next fall.”
