A year ago, Drake Shadwick couldn’t even crack the varsity lineup for the Ankeny boys’ golf team.
Now, he’s headed to the Class 4A state meet.
The lone senior among the Hawks’ top six players, Shadwick carded a 76 on Monday to place seventh in a district meet at Lake Panorama National Golf Course. He qualified for state as an individual along with medalist Joe Greazel of Marshalltown, who shot a 1-under-par 71 to finish three strokes ahead of the field.
“I think the most important thing at that course was to hit the fairway and just keep the ball in play, and leaving myself with easy putts,” said Shadwick.
Shadwick rebounded from a triple bogey on the No. 11 hole. He played his final seven holes in even par to finish two strokes ahead of Hudson Kelley of Des Moines Roosevelt for the second individual qualifying spot.
“Drake played a great round of golf today,” said Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld. “He really only had the one hiccup on his card, but he bounced back and that is what it takes–not letting one bad hole compound. I can’t say how happy and proud I am of Drake for making it to state his senior year and being his first year playing varsity. That is quite the accomplishment, and the team was very happy for him.”
Ankeny closed out the regular season last Tuesday by competing in the rescheduled Turk Bowman Invitational at Veenker Golf Course in Ames, but the Hawks entered a lineup of junior varsity players. That allowed Weddingfeld to take his varsity to Panora–where he grew up–for a practice round.
“I think it definitely helped to play the course before,” Shadwick said. “It was also nice because in the summer I played in a tournament there, and I was used to how to play the course and I knew what to do.”
Shadwick led Ankeny to a fourth-place finish in the 14-team field. The Hawks posted a 322 total to edge Indianola and Roosevelt by one stroke, but only the top three squads advanced to the state meet.
Fourth-ranked Waukee Northwest, No. 6 Norwalk and No. 10 Johnston were the favorites to qualify for state heading into the meet. That trio easily advanced, but not necessarily in the order that some people expected.
Johnston shot a 302 to capture the team title, edging runner-up Norwalk by one stroke. Northwest finished third with a 306.
“I was very happy with our effort today, and I am especially happy for Drake to make it to state,” Weddingfeld said. “We knew that we would have to play our absolute best rounds of golf today to beat any of the top three teams, and although we gave it our best we came up a bit short. All six guys battled today, and I am proud of them. I think we were a little nervous starting out the round as all six of the guys bogeyed or double bogeyed their first hole, but once we settled in they played a lot of really solid golf.
“Panorama was in great shape for all of the rain that we had, and hats off to them for all their hard work. The course was definitely different than last Tuesday’s practice round, which we played in the rain. The course dried out some and the greens were faster due to that, but the guys did a great job adjusting,” he added.
Norwalk’s Tillman Papcun was the runner-up with a 74. His teammate, Jaxon Howe, also fired a 74–and so did Johnston’s Lucas Laffoon.
Ankeny’s Oliver Bormann carded a 79. He took 23rd in a field of about 80 golfers.
Charlie McHose, the Hawks’ No. 6 player, provided the team’s third score with an 83. Drew Boyd fired an 84, Trey Huynh had an 86, and Ashton Weddingfeld finished with an 88.
“I have said before how proud I am of my entire team. They all handle themselves very well on the course and are great young men,” Weddingfeld said. “I think we made some huge strides this year with their games and getting lots of experience, and I can’t wait to see what next season brings. I didn’t know what to expect going into the season with no returning varsity players, but I have to say I was impressed with everyone on the team and the work ethic they have to improve. Getting Drake to the state tournament is icing on the cake to what I consider a successful season.”
The state meet will be held on Oct. 12-13 at Davenport Country Club.
