A lot of new faces will be in the lineup when the Ankeny boys’ golf team opens its season on Thursday.
The Hawks will host a CIML Conference triangular meet against Urbandale and Waukee Northwest at Otter Creek. The action gets under way at 9 a.m.
Ankeny posted a 2-6 record in the conference last year that included a two-stroke win over Urbandale and a loss to Northwest. The Hawks graduated their entire varsity lineup, leaving coach Mike Weddingfeld with a massive rebuilding task.
“I can’t remember a time when I have had a team where I didn’t have at least two returning varsity players, so this year is definitely a first for me,” Weddingfeld said. “The good thing is all of the guys on the team are great kids, and I know they will work hard all season to keep improving. I am sure the first few meets will be a bit more challenging on their nerves not having played varsity before, but I know that no matter who is playing varsity that day they will do their best.”
Weddingfeld is entering his 22nd season as Ankeny’s head coach. He has guided the Hawks to seven state meet appearances, including three trips in the last six years.
Seven other Ankeny players have qualified for state as individuals, including Dominic Schnepf, who earned a fourth-place finish in Class 4A in 2014.
At this point, though, it’s too early for Weddingfeld to even think about the state meet. He conducted tryouts on Monday and Tuesday just to fill out his lineup for Thursday’s meet.
“After two rounds of golf we have our 12 players figured out for our first meet, but I think we could have a lot of possible change with our varsity lineup throughout the season,” Weddingfeld said. “I feel like consistency and golf maturity are where we will look to improve this season. We have the talent, but we need to become more consistent with our scores.”
Senior Drake Shadwick and junior Drew Boyd have emerged as potential leaders for the Hawks.
“Drake has been playing some really good golf all summer and played really well during tryouts so I expect him to be our leader, and we’ll need him to play consistently well to lead us this year,” Weddingfeld said. “Drew had two good days during tryouts as well so I will look to him to step up into a leadership role for us along with Drake.”
The rest of the Hawks’ varsity lineup on Thursday will consist of juniors Oliver Boreman, Brody Burg, Trey Huyn and Charlie McHose.
“Our top six guys playing on Thursday will all be fresh to the varsity experience,” Weddingfeld said.