T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON • Marshalltown senior Kassy Vest, middle, signed her letter of intent on Friday to continue her golf career at Iowa Western Community College. At the table with Vest are her mother, Jamie, and father, Jeff, along with Bobcat head golf coach Lucas Johnson.

Marshalltown High School senior golfer Kassy Vest signed her National Letter of Intent with Iowa Western Community College on Friday in the team room of the Roundhouse, making her the latest Bobcat to continue her playing career at the next level.

Vest, a state qualifier last season, said there were multiple factors that led to her choosing to become a Reiver.

“They sound like they have a really great program, the coach actually cares about school and the program and his job is to be a golf pro so that will be a lot of help I think,” she said.

MHS head coach Lucas Johnson said Vest should be a perfect fit for last season’s fifth-place finisher at the NJCAA National Championship.

“From what I know about Iowa Western they have a quality program and they are going to challenge her and continue to take her game to the next level so I am excited to see what Kassy will accomplish once she gets there,” Johnson said. “I know that she is going to work hard over the summer to get her game to that next level because she has seen some great competition here in Iowa at the high school level but when you get to the college level you are playing against kids from all over the world.”

Vest will be in good hands at the coaching level, as Iowa Western’s Derrick Thompson was named Iowa Community College Athletic Conference coach of the year for this past season. She said this opportunity to golf with the Reivers of Council Bluffs is one she is eager to grab.

“It’s really exciting and it’s kind of scary too, but I am sure I’ll fit right in with all of them because they are probably going to have the same goals as I do, so that will be nice,” Vest said.

Vest has been the best golfer on a strong Marshalltown team that has played well this spring. Her 9-hole average score is good for 11th-best in Class 4A and she is looking to qualify for the state tournament for the second-straight year and lead the Bobcats to a team state berth.

Vest said she owes a lot of her success to the community of Marshalltown and Bobcat golfers before, and she hopes that younger girls on the team can look up to her for inspiration.

“I was always like that with Ashley Harris, I always wanted to be as good as her or even better honestly, but I hope they can look up to me and think ‘she succeeded, so I can do that too,'” Vest said. “I don’t want to be intimidating and say ‘oh I’m better than you,’ I want them to come and ask me for help and I do kind of do that with [freshman Kyra Feldman], she asks me a lot to help her and I do the best I can.”

Johnson said the Bobcat golf community produces strong golfers because of their willingness to take others under their wing.

“Kassy has been a role model to a lot of the younger players coming up just with her work ethic and how much she plays not only during the season but during the summer as well,” Johnson said. “I look at how much she has grown as a golfer from her freshman year for now, she is fortunate that she had really good role models as she was coming up as a freshman like Ashley Harris, who was top-10 in the state. Kassy got a chance to play with her as a freshman, so it’s a cyclical thing that players can build off of each other and see what it takes to get to that next level.”