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Spartans stay within striking distance

Grundy Center gives itself a chance after steady start at American Legion

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD • Grundy Center junior Jake Bangasser chips onto the 14th green at American Legion Memorial Golf Course in Marshalltown on Friday. Bangasser is tied for 13th, with teammate Jesper Holke-Farnam, at the Class 1A state golf meet. Bangasser and Holke-Farnam both shot 80 on their first day.

Jesper Holke-Farnam said it best after concluding his round on day one of the Class 1A state golf meet at American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown.

“You can never win the state tournament on the first day, but you can sure as heck lose it,” Holke-Farnam said.

The Grundy Center senior shot an 80, co-leading the Spartans with junior Jake Bangasser and helped set up his team in prime condition for Saturday’s day two. The Spartans shot a 336 to slot fourth place after day one, just four strokes back of third-place Winfield-Mt. Union (332).

Holke-Farnam, along with Bangasser, felt the woes of first-day jitters, successes and failures after the first day of the 2016 Class 2A state tournament in Fort Dodge. The Spartans were eighth of nine teams after the first round, shooting 323 a year ago.

“Like I said, you can’t win it, but you can lose it on the first day. We lost it on the first day,” Holke-Farnam said. “Today, we’re not in that position. We still gave ourselves a fighting chance. The biggest difference is overall scores. We kept ourselves in it. Even if it wasn’t what we were particularly happy with, we’re still in that hunt.”

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD • Jesper Holke-Farnam chips onto the green on Hole 14 on Friday during the first round of the Class 1A state golf meet at American Legion Memorial Golf Course. Holke-Farnam is tied with teammate Jake Bangasser for 13th with an 80 after the first day of play.

East Buchanan leads all teams at the 1A meet with a 308. Bishop Garrigan is sitting second with a 318, just ahead of Winfield-Mt. Union.

There’s not a better team suited to make a strong day-two showing in the field than Grundy Center, who has just a 37-minute drive to American Legion Golf Course. While it might not necessarily be a home-course advantage, the Spartans are confident they can come back with a stronger round today.

“We didn’t play our best, but we didn’t play our worst,” Holke-Farnam said. “[Today] we’re looking to bounce back. Me, Jake, everyone on the team can save at least five strokes off our scores. If we can do that, we can definitely get back in that hunt for third, maybe even second.”

A year ago, the Spartans shot a single stroke worse than their season average (322) and came back with a 318 on day two to finish eighth at the 2A meet. This year, the Spartans are two strokes under their season average (334) and sit in fourth.

Grundy Center head coach Dennis Dirks said he’s had the conversation with some of the other golfers who haven’t been on high school golf’s grandest stage before, that there’s momentum that comes and goes with the good and holes. And if the Spartans are going to vie for a top-three finish, all six will have to be in peak physical and mental condition.

“You’ve got to be able to handle those swings in emotion and momentum,” Dirks said. “You’ve got to take the good and the bad. And sometimes, the kids who haven’t played at this level, have a hard time letting go of the bad holes or a bad shot. I look forward to the opportunity of coming back here [today] and seeing what they can post.”

Nerves certainly didn’t get the best of Matthew Sternhagen, who shot an 86 to be the Spartans’ No. 3 scorer out of the No. hole. Dirks said Sternhagen has been a solid No. 6 for the Spartans all season long, and wasn’t as surprised to see his score count.

Sternhagen shot 42 on his front nine and came back with a 44 on his back nine. He was one of four golfers who weren’t on last year’s state team. Braidan Buhrow was the fourth and final score that counted for the Spartans, as he shot a 90. Nolan Freeman was under 100 with his 94, and Andy Cox, who will be subbed out for Tanner Appel today, shot 106 in the opening round.

The trick for the Spartans coming into their final round of the spring season will be to shave off those strokes around the green.

“Putting wise, and even chipping wise and shots into the green were off and on,” Holke-Farnam said. “My round started strong, and then it ended a little worse. Like on [Hole] 18, I went [out of bounds] deep. So, shot control will need a lot of work, too.”

Class 1A state golfers will tee off at 8 a.m. on the second and final day of the state tournament today at American Legion Golf Course.

CLASS 3A

At Livermore

Spring Valley Golf Course, par 72

Team Standings — 1. Central Clinton 308, 2. Williamsburg 312, 3. MOC-Floyd Valley 313, 4. Webster City 317, 5. Atlantic 319, 6. Mount Pleasant 324, 7. ADM 333, 8. Norwalk 339, 9. Benton Community 345.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Tommy Doyle, Gilbert, 68; 2. Ethan Jacoby, Williamsburg, 71; 3. (tie) Rielly McGranaham, Central Clinton, 72; Isaac Knock, Williamsburg, 72; 5. Micah Moyer, ADM, 74; 6. McGwire Eden, Central Clinton, 75; 7. (tie) Lucas Scherf, Grinnell, 76; Nathan Ferrell, Webster City, 76; 9. (tie) Tate Arends, MOC-FV, 77; Ben Renaud, Atlantic, 77; Trent Shaw, West Delaware, 77; Drew Fielder, Webster City, 77; Trevor Mabeus, Mount Pleasant, 77.

CLASS 2A

At Fort Dodge

Lakeside Memorial Golf Course, par 70

Team Standings — 1. Sheldon 294, 2. Clear Lake 301, 3. Panorama 304, 4. Kuemper Catholic 304, 5. Clarinda 309, 6. Shenandoah 310, 7. New Hampton 317, 8. Clayton Ridge 324, 9. Wilton 339.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Tyler Merley, Sheldon, 68; 2. (tie) Brandon Schwade, OA-BCIG, 71; Ryan Ruzek, Shenandoah, 71; 4. (tie) Carter Stochl, New Hampton, 72; Jared Tigges, Kuemper, 72; Dayton Boell, PCM, 72; Will Babcock, Panorama, 72; George Appleseth, Panorama, 72; Dylan Ellis, Aplington-Parkersburg, 72; 10. (tie) Kolby Shackelford, Panorama, 73; Trent Garver, Albia, 73; Thomas Storbeck, Clear Lake, 73; Ryan Feauto, Kuemper, 73; Koby Klatt, Sheldon, 73; Kyle Calaguas, Clear Lake, 73.

CLASS 1A

At Marshalltown

American Legion Golf Course, par 70

Team Standings — 1. East Buchanan 308, 2. Bishop Garrigan 318, 3. Winfield-Mt. Union 332, 4. Grundy Center 336, 5. Boyden-Hull 341, 6. North Union 346, 7. Coon Rapids-Bayard 355, 8. North Mahaska 359.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Kaleb Hagge, Winfield-Mt. Union, 68; 2. Anthony Gallagher, Woodbury Central, 69; 3. Parker Oleson, North Union, 71; 4. Chris Cooksley, East Buchanan, 72;

4. Noah Haack, Hudson, 72; 6. Logan Capesius, Bishop Garrigan, 74; 6. Ethan Streicher, Edgewood-Colesburg, 74; 6. Jacob Hesner, East Buchanan, 74; 10. Donovan Berte, Bishop Garrigan, 77.

EAST BUCHANAN (308) — Cooksley 72, Hesner 74, Dylan Kress 79, Ryan Schmitt 83, Hunter Snyder 89, Nathan Schmitt 91.

BISHOP GARRIGAN (318) — Capesius 74, Berte 77, Andrew Arndorfer 81, Tommy Kollasch 86, James Burns 90, Andrew Thilges 94.

WINFIELD-MT. UNION (332) — Hagge 68, Nolan Ross 84, Jarod Kadel 89, Kash Rossiter 91, Graham Hagge 104, Noah Freeman 118.

GRUNDY CENTER (336) — Jesper Holke-Farnam 80, Jake Bangasser 80, Matthew Sternhagen 86, Braidan Buhrow 90, Nolan Freeman 94, Andy Cox 106.

BOYDEN-HULL (341) — Davis Van Roekel 84, Keaton Van Roekel 84, Marcus Rens 86, Kyle Baartman 87, Logan Brunstling 93, Tyler Woelber 97.

NORTH UNION (346) — Oleson 71, Nathan Eaton 87, Brady Anderson 92, Preston Brandenburg 96, Marvin Rezac 97, Hayden Nicoson 97.

COON RAPIDS-BAYARD (355) — Colton Lenz 78, Isaac McAlister 89, Trenton Golay 92, Brody Schlepp 96, Zach Lee 102, Nathan Derner 104.

NORTH MAHASKA (359) — Jacob Sampson 89, Blake Fisher 90, Hunter Davis 90, Milan DeJong 90, Dylan Comstock 91, Jac Munson 94.

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