Ankeny boys’ golf coach Mike Weddingfeld is hoping that his team learned some things on Thursday.
The Hawks shot a 320 and placed third in a CIML Conference triangular meet at Copper Creek Golf Course. Southeast Polk posted a 289 total on its home course to win the meet, while Johnston finished with a 304 and came away with a split.
Ankeny will play the Copper Creek course at least two more times. The Hawks will compete in the Southeast Polk Invitational on Sept. 23, then will return there a week later for the CIML Conference meet.
“All six of the guys work really hard, and they handle their emotions well,” said Weddingfeld. “They are a fun group to coach, and they all work hard so the more experience we get the better we should become. Hopefully, we will hit our stride when it counts the most at the end of the season.”
Southeast Polk’s Carter Mulcahy carded a 2-under-par 69 to earn medalist honors. Teammate Cayden Shortell was the runner-up with a 71.
Drew Boyd shot a 75 to lead Ankeny, placing fifth overall. Oliver Bormann tied for sixth with a 76.
“Drew and Oliver both put up solid scores today, and I have been really happy with their leadership and scores,” Weddingfeld said. “We just need some other guys to step up and shoot some better scores that I know they are capable of shooting.”
Ashton Weddingfeld carded an 84 for the Hawks. Trey Huynh had an 85, Brody Burg fired an 87, and Brock Pilcher added a 90 in his varsity debut.
“It was another day much like the previous days as we played some really good golf, but we had a few bad holes that hurt us,” Weddingfeld said. “Drake (Shadwick) was out sick today so not having your No. 2 guy doesn’t help, but we just have to figure out how to limit the mistakes and right now we are not doing that. Ashton and Trey played a lot of really good holes, but again they had a couple holes that they let get away from them.
“Our big focus right now is not making a second mistake after the first. If you miss a green, then you need to get up and down and not hit a bad chip or a bad putt,” he added.
The Rams raised their record to 5-1 in the conference. Ankeny and Johnston are both 2-2.
The Hawks will compete in the Turk Bowman Invitational on Monday at Veenker Golf Course in Ames.