Tuesday was another rainy day on the golf course for both the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial boys’ teams.
The Jaguars placed fifth among 13 squads in the Turk Bowman Invitational at Veenker Golf Course in Ames. They posted a score of 319 on one of the state’s most difficult courses.
Ankeny, meanwhile, finished 11th with a 364 total. Coach Mike Weddingfeld elected not to use his varsity golfers with the district meet coming up next week.
“I made a coaching decision today and sent a JV group to Ames,” said Weddingfeld. “Veenker has always seemed to be a course that gives us problems so I didn’t want the varsity guys to go there and potentially lose some of the momentum that we gained over the last two meets. I also wanted some of our other guys to get some varsity experience, and it was the only day available for my varsity to get over to Lake Panorama for a practice round for districts.”
Dallas Center-Grimes shot a 280 to easily defend its team title. Southeast Polk was second with a 298, followed by Indianola with a 313.
Dallas Center-Grimes swept the top four individual places. Gavin Drake was the medalist and teammate Drake Jordan was the runner-up after both carded a 69.
Ricky Beckwith fired a 78 to lead Centennial. Charlie Knoll and Nathan Grider each shot a 79.
“Ricky, Charlie and Nathan all did a great job of battling tough conditions and posting a reasonable score,” said Centennial coach Andrew Reedy.
Everett Bloyer carded an 83 for the Jaguars. Kinnick Nelson had an 84, and Colby Zinn added an 85 in his first varsity event since coming back from an injury.
“Colby struggled some early, but he played well his last 10 holes,” Reedy said. “Kinnick and Everett struggled through the rain and competed so I am happy they did that.”
Ankeny’s Cooper Close and Brody Burg each shot a 90. Owen Morris fired a 91 for the Hawks, Ethan Klocke and Hayden Reed each had a 93, and Brock Pilcher finished with a 95.
“I was not at Veenker, but I am sure the course was wet just like they all are,” Weddingfeld said. “I think playing those difficult courses is a good learning experience for those guys that will be returning next year, and that has been one of my goals this year so that next fall we will start out with the experience we will need to keep improving.”
Both Ankeny and Centennial will compete in the CIML Conference meet on Thursday at Copper Creek–weather permitting. Reedy is not optimistic that the event will be held.
“We will likely get rained out for conference and if so we’ll turn our focus to LeMars (for the district meet),” he said. “We need to get it to click on Monday like we have been waiting for all year.”