The ceiling for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ golf team might have to be raised.
The Jaguars posted a season-best score of 294 to place third among 11 teams in the Ankeny Invitational on Wednesday at Otter Creek Golf Course. Coach Andrew Reedy’s team shot below 300 for the first time in six meets this season.
“It was probably the most complete performance from top to bottom of any team I have coached in my four seasons,” said Reedy. “Our highest score was 77. Every player competed for 18 holes.”
Ankeny also showed some improvement on its home course, shooting a 310 to match its season-best score. The Hawks won a tiebreaker against Marshalltown to earn a fifth-place finish.
“I was happy with how the team finished today, but we talked again about limiting our mistakes,” said Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld. “We again played a lot of great holes of golf but just had too many big numbers to compete with some of these quality teams that we face every tournament.”
Dallas Center-Grimes shot a 277 to capture its third tournament crown in the last week. The Mustangs also won the Waukee Northwest Invitational on Thursday at The Legacy Golf Club and the Fort Dodge Invitational on Tuesday.
Southeast Polk placed second on Wednesday with a 288. Centennial edged Dowling Catholic by two strokes for third place.
“I am really proud of the week we have had after a less than ideal start to the season,” Reedy said. “I think our kids have proven to themselves that they can compete and creating that belief in themselves is huge for the rest of the season.”
Dallas Center-Grimes’ Chase Perrin earned medalist honors for the second day in a row. After shooting a 67 at the Fort Dodge Country Club, Perrin carded a 66 on Wednesday to finish three strokes ahead of the field.
Everett Bloyer and Nathan Grider each fired a 73 to lead the Jaguars. They were part of a six-way tie for ninth place that also included Ankeny’s Drew Boyd.
“The overall theme was staring down adversity and posting the best score we possibly could, even with some poor starts or a poor stretch during the round,” Reedy said. “This was epitomized by Nathan, who was 8-over-par through seven holes and then played the last 11 holes in 6-under.”
Centennial’s Max Gladson and Kinnick Nelson each shot a 74. They tied for 15th place with Ankeny’s Oliver Bormann and Dowling’s Sammy Clark.
“Everett, Max and Kinnick had good starts but had a tough stretch at some point, and then they turned it around for a solid finish,” Reedy said.
Charlie Knoll carded a 75 for the Jaguars. Ricky Beckwith had a 77.
“We didn’t take their scores, but both Charlie and Ricky played their last 10 to 12 holes at even par or better after tough starts,” Reedy said. “When your scores you don’t take have 10-12 hole stretches of even par or better, that means you have kids that can flat out play.”
Boyd and Bormann led the way for Ankeny. Bormann posted a season-best score.
“Drew and Oliver limited their mistakes to just a few bogeys, and that is why they were able to post a 73 and a 74,” Weddingfeld said.
Ashton Weddingfeld carded an 80 for the Hawks. Trey Huynh and Drake Shadwick each had an 83, and Ethan Klocke finished with an 89.
“If you look at the scorecards for the four guys other than Drew and Oliver, they all had double bogeys or higher and those couple holes are the difference between a low 80s score and a mid 70s score,” Weddingfeld said. “Trey played 16 great holes of golf, but he hit a few out of bounds toward the end of his round and had two big numbers. Ashton started the day with a triple bogey on his first hole but battled back to post a counting score for us.
“As I said in the past, we are still finding our way and golf is a hard game so as long as we keep improving and working toward improving I am happy with the team. All the boys handle themselves very well on the course so mentally we hang in there, but we just have to figure out a way to limit those big numbers,” he added.
Both Ankeny and Centennial will now get a few days off for the holiday weekend before returning to action next week.
The Jaguars will host a CIML Conference triangular meet against Dowling and Johnston on Wednesday at Briarwood Golf Club. The Hawks will face Johnston and Southeast Polk in another CIML triangular on Thursday at Copper Creek.
