Two in 60s after day one of T-R City Championship
It was a perfect Saturday for golf but not a perfect day for scoring in the first round of the Times-Republican City Championship at the American Legion Memorial Golf Course.
Of the 93 competitors vying for various titles, only two were able to post a round under par — Tate Carlson with a 5-under 65 and Cole Davis with a 1-under 69. Three were in a tie for third at even-par 70 — Keygan Hansen, Chad Plaehn and four-time champion Sam Zoske.
Carlson, Davis and Hansen make it three former Marshalltown High School golfers in the top-five, and all three were members of the Bobcats’ roster that won the 2017 Class 4A boys’ golf state championship at Elmwood Country Club.
They’re all shooting for another title today on the same course.
Three-time champion of the open division Rob Christensen is in sixth after a 2-over 72 — with Connor Beaty, Jeff Miller and Pat Ryan tied for seventh with a 4-over 74. Rounding out the top-10 is Zach Underhill, Red Van Cleave and Joe Schmidt at six-over 76.
Beaty played with Carlson and said his good round helped make it a fun atmosphere.
“He’s one of my high school best friends,” Beaty said. “So watching him play good just encourages me to play better. It was just overall a very fun round for us.”
Carlson, who played golf at Kirkwood Community College in 2019 and had the 2020 spring season canceled due to COVID-19, had six birdies and only one bogey — on No. 18 — in a commanding first-round performance. He said it was just a matter of keeping the ball in play.
“I was hitting the fairways and hitting greens,” Carlson said. “I was feeling good and I just let the strokes fall into place.”
The first tee time Sunday will have the three contestants in this year’s women’s championship, including leader and two-time defending champion Amber Henson. Henson shot a 9-over 80 in the first round and holds a 21-stroke lead over Mackenzie Fahrni.
The Super Senior division is also up for grabs at Elmwood with Tom Fleming in the lead after a 1-over 72. Pete Kelly (76), David Mitchell (77), Dennis Olson (80) and Jim Carlson (81) and Mike Ward (81) round out the top-five. Kelly is the defending champion of the event.
The final group Sunday goes off at 1 p.m. and will feature Carlson, Davis, Zoske and Hansen. Plaehn, Christensen, Beaty and Miller will go off at 12:50 p.m. in the penultimate group.
Plaehn — who was 2-under on the front nine before a double-bogey six on No. 10 brought him back to even par — was hoping to make the final group, as he said it was much easier to mount a comeback knowing where he stood.
He added that Sunday’s action is likely to be a lot more difficult given some of the changes made to Elmwood under current superintendent David Eichhorn.
“I like what he’s doing, obviously it seems a bit more challenging,” Plaehn said. “I just gotta get off the tee really is the main thing and the main goal. I think if I do that, I’ll be in good shape.”
Five people are within five shots of the lead. There’s a lot to play for Sunday, but the results will be in the hands of Carlson and future University of Houston golfer Davis.
It’s a reunion for the duo, and a welcome one for the overnight leader.
“It feels great,” Carlson said. “I’ve played with [Cole] for a while, so it’ll be fun to play with him again.”
Times-Republican City Championship
First Round
At American Legion Memorial Golf Course
Open Division
1. Carlson, Tate -5 65
2. Davis, Cole -1 69
3. Zoske, Sam E 70
4. Plaehn, Chad E 70
5. Hansen, Keygan E 70
6. Christensen, Rob +2 72
7. Miller, Jeff +4 74
8. Beaty, Connor +4 74
9. Ryan, Pat +4 74
10. Underhill, Zach +6 76
11. Schmit, Joe +6 76
12. Vancleave, Red +6 76
13. Underhill, Troy +7 77
14. Koch, Mel +7 77
15. Mattox, Dave +7 77
16. Wirth, Riley +7 77
17. Greazel, Grant +7 77
18. Shipley, Darin +7 77
19. Weeks, Donny +8 78
20. Chandler, Joel +8 78
21. Wolken, Mark +8 78
22. Baccam, Then +8 78
23. Hoff, Curt +8 78
24. Vancleave, Greg +9 79
25. Solarisith, Dao +9 79
26. Christensen, James +10 80
27. Collins, Paul +11 81
28. Haney, John +11 81
29. Chalopeck, Owen +11 81
30. Phomvisay, Aidda +11 81
31. Bolar, Todd +11 81
32. Davis, Ron +11 81
33. Smith, Grant +12 82
34. Knutson, Steve +12 82
35. Peschong, Tyler +12 82
36. Herschberger, Bryan +12 82
37. Finch, Mark +12 82
38. Keen, Henry +12 82
39. Weatherman, Sam +12 82
40. Eichhorn, David +13 83
41. Logsdon, Kenneth +13 83
42. Ferneau, Bret +14 84
43. Kadner, Brian +14 84
44. Mitchell, Ron +14 84
45. Baccam, David +14 84
46. Potter, Trent +15 85
47. Johnston, Bernie +16 86
48. Fahrni, Brayden +16 86
49. Schutte, Theron +16 86
50. Summers, Jerry +16 86
51. Bell, Tim +17 87
52. Hannam, Matt +17 87
53. Halverson, Ray +17 87
54. MIller, Kreighton +17 87
55. Fleming, Aaron +17 87
56. Barre, Darren +17 87
57. Peschong, Michael +18 88
58. Peart, John +18 88
59. Rhodes, Don +18 88
60. Ruddick, Steve +19 89
61. Misek, Chuck +19 89
62. Weatherly, Rob +21 91
63. Stahlin, Tyler +22 92
64. Hannam, Joe +23 93
65. Sorenson, Justin +24 94
66. Zesch, Kim +24 94
67. Chizek, Kamrin +26 96
68. Paul, Christopher +28 98
69. Casey, John +29 99
70. Wilkie, Brian +29 99
71. Dunham, Steve +30 100
72. Frye, Dylan +30 100
73. Shipley, Will +32 102
74. Weeks, Kenny +34 104
75. Kelehan, Jim +36 106
WD. Strand, Kevin WD
Super Senior Division
1. Flemming, Tom +1 72
2. Kelly, Pete +5 76
3. Mitchell, David +6 77
4. Olson, Dennis +9 80
5. Carlson, Jim +10 81
6. Ward, Mike +10 81
7. Anderson, Mike +11 82
8. Severson, Ken +12 83
9. Hamilton, Gerald +14 85
10. Vaughn, Dean +18 89
11. Weatherman, Doug +20 91
12. Holder, Greg +23 94
13. Wilson, Bill +24 95
14. Becker, Wayne +32 103
Ladies Division
1. Henson, Amber +9 80
2. Fahrni, Mackenzie +30 101
3. Stewart, Liz +48 119
WD. Zimmerman, Jackie WD