Bobcat head coach Lucas Johnson is hoping his entire squad catches fire for the second half of their postponement-riddled spring schedule.

MHS senior Kassy Vest kickstarted her back nine with a birdie on the 10th hole at the American Legion Memorial Golf Course and finished 10 strokes better on the latter half, earning seventh place to lead the Bobcats to sixth place in their own memorial tournament.

Another Bobcat senior — Ciara Feldman — played 15 strokes better on the back nine than the front and contributed to the final team score as MHS placed sixth with a 385 total.

“As a tournament, this is always one of the special days of the year and it was great to have so many people who knew Linda come out to see the opening tee shot,” said Johnson. “Marty Sullivan, this year’s honorary starter and one of the most successful coaches in [Class] 4A girls golf, talked about how much he learned from Linda as he was getting his start at Waukee.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Sullivan’s squad put that education on display, winning the invitational by a whopping 26 strokes. The Warriors finished in with a 328 team total with Ankeny Centennial (354) and Grinnell (355) giving chase. Southeast Polk (369) held off Ottumwa (381), Marshalltown (385) and Ames (389) for fourth place. Grundy Center, by far the smallest school in the field, finished 12th out of 13 teams with a 443 aggregate.

All those strokes salvaged on the back nine made an obvious impact on Marshalltown’s final placing.

Vest carded 48-38–86 to lead MHS, shooting even-par over a six-hole stretch from No. 9 to 14 highlighted by a 5-foot putt for birdie falling on the 10th green.

“Kassy Vest got off to a slow start on the front nine, but really caught her stride on the back,” said Johnson “She made a birdie on 10 that swung the momentum, and for her to improve 10 strokes on the back says a lot about her resiliency.

“Ciara Feldman also did a great job coming back after a rough first nine. She easily could have thrown in the towel, but gritted it out and improved 15 shots on her second nine.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Feldman shot 59-44 to share the final scoring spot for the Bobcats with Bella Russell at 103. Kyra Feldman shot 48-46–94 and Emily Hass had a 47-55–102 to help Marshalltown climb back up to sixth place for the first time since 2015.

“Obviously we’d like to see more consistency from one nine to the next, but that will come with the more golf the girls are able to play,” Johnson said. “We lacked the sharpness we had Tuesday night against Urbandale, but that’s part of the challenge of spring golf when you’re still shaking off the rest of not being able to get out and play for over four months.”

The Bobcats will continue to dust off the cobwebs with a busy week in front of them, playing four meets in five days thanks to a pair of make-up dates. Marshalltown goes to Fort Dodge for a CIML Iowa Conference triangular including Dowling Catholic on Tuesday night, and the Valley Classic has been rescheduled for Wednesday at Willow Creek Golf Course. A dual with Johnston and a trip to the Newton Invite closes out next week for MHS.

The Grundy Center girls’ golf team battled its way around the course and came away ahead of only Fort Dodge in the final standings, 443-512. The Spartans were 15 strokes back of Nevada (428) for 11th.

Lauren Dirks led Grundy Center with a round of 107, while Lauren Burhow finished in with a 110. Josie Holke-Farnam carded a 111 and Jessica Ayers closed out the team scoring with a 115.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Ankeny Centennial senior Tenley Moretti, who recently signed to play at Iowa State, was meet medalist with an even-par round of 71. Team champion Waukee had four of the top six finishers.

Linda Bloom Invite

At Marshalltown

American Legion Memorial Golf Course, par 71

Team Standings — 1. Waukee 328, 2. Ankeny Centennial 354, 3. Grinnell 355, 4. Southeast Polk 369, 5. Ottumwa 381, 6. Marshalltown 385, 7. Ames 389, 8. Des Moines Roosevelt 403, 9. Mason City 411, 10. Newton 415, 11. Nevada 428, 12. Grundy Center 443, 13. Fort Dodge 512.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Individual (top 10) — 1. Tenley Moretti, AC, 71; 2. Brooke Boardman, WAU, 75; 3. Bella Amador-Lacson, GRN, 83; 4. Grace Gallagher, WAU, 83; 5. Katelyn Mardis, WAU, 84; 6. Elle Kramer, WAU, 86; 7. Kassy Vest, MHS, 86; 8. Alisha Ford, GRN, 87; 9. Lauren Sease, AC, 88; 10. Isabelle Julher, SEP, 89.

WAUKEE (328) — Boardman 75, Gallagher 75, Mardis 84, Kramer 86, Jessey Wyzgowski 93, Kelsey Hubble 101.

ANKENY CENTENNIAL (354) — Moretti 71, Sease 88, Megan Lazear 94, Emily Davis 101, Emma Stoelk 102, Emma Meter 105.

GRINNELL (355) — Amador-Lacson 83, Ford 87, Madison Elliot 92, Maddie Schrack 93, Maddy Bolte 99, Naomi Jackson 105.

SOUTHEAST POLK (369) — Juhler 89, Olivia Dowling 92, Jenna Vignovich 93, Miranda Fickbohm 95, Hannah Hawkins 107, Jaylen Cooper 112.

OTTUMWA (381) — Kjierstin Ridgway 94, Hannah Richardson 95, Shayleigh Dunham 95, Jaden Bradford 97, Morgan Lawson 100, Danielle Rich 118.

MARSHALLTOWN (385) — Vest 86, Kyra Feldman 94, Emily Hass 102, Bella Russell 103, Ciara Feldman 103, Emma Younkin 109, Taylor Naughton 114.

AMES (389) — Tessa Huff 93, Taylor Balsley 95, Megan Reisselman 98, Sydney Kain 103, Lydia Grawe 111, Alexa Linder 116.

DM ROOSEVELT (403) — Annemarie Yamamoto 98, Averi Peck 100, Amy Huang 102, Sydney Risen 103, Sarah Koenig 105, Olivia Koenig 119.

MASON CITY (411) — Thea Lunning 93, Sophie Lunning 97, Alyssa Alert 109, Erika Sloan 112, Lauren Dettmer 124, Makayla Weber 134.

NEWTON (415) — Alayna Reynolds 96, Taylor Dydell 101, Jordan Pritchard 109, Victoria Reynolds 109, Bekah Vasseau 114, Arieal Lum 125.

NEVADA (428) — Emma Griffin 101, Grace Cahill 106, Nora Anderson 108, Ashlyn Sporrer 113, Caroline Ausman 113, Bridge Patterson 116.

GRUNDY CENTER (443) — Lauren Dirks 107, Lauren Buhrow 110, Josie Holke-Farnam 111, Jessica Ayers 115, Frannie Brown 118, Claire Verly 123.

FORT DODGE (512) — McKaelyn Anderson 120, Nicole Guerin 121, Joscelynn Rosalez 128, Bryor McCubbin 143, Jenna Lee 143, Maddy Major 154.