Grant Greazel

CEDAR FALLS — The Marshalltown boys’ golf team found itself too far from the top of the standings when its shots strayed too far from the center of the fairways.

The Bobcats placed seventh out of 14 teams at the Tiger Invitational held Tuesday at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls, shooting a 320 that lost a three-way tie for fifth place on the fifth-score tiebreaker.

Against a star-studded cast of competitors, the Bobcats couldn’t catch a break as often as their drives caught the rough. And according to MHS head coach Lucas Johnson, the long stuff around the fairways was unforgiving on this day.

“Visually, Pheasant Ridge isn’t all that intimidating, but the rough was thick and as a team we missed more fairways and greens than expected,” he said.

Aside from a brief bobble on the back nine, Marshalltown senior Grant Greazel was more hit and less miss. Greazel shot a 2-over-par 74 that earned him fifth place after a four-way cardback, but unfortunately for the Bobcats he was the only one to shoot under 80.

Fellow senior Drake Polley shot an 80 and sophomore Ryan Schmit carded an 81 to bridge the gap for the Bobcats, while senior Colin Schmit shot 85 to round out the scoring.

Kevin Strand’s 87 came into play for Marshalltown as the fifth-score tiebreaker, but both Waukee Northwest and Cedar Rapids Washington had a lower fifth score to take fifth and sixth, respectively, in the final team standings.

“We knew we needed to play well in order to contend with some of the top teams in the state, including quite a few teams we’ll see in our district,” Johnson said.

Meet host Cedar Falls finished second in another fifth-score tiebreaker, as Waukee’s 302 proved superior to the Tigers’ tally thanks to a one-stroke difference in the fifth scores. Cedar Rapids Prairie placed third at 313 and Western Dubuque was fourth at 317 in the 14-team tournament.

“We’ve got a quick turnaround with another 18 holes at Southeast Polk and definitely hope to bounce back and build some momentum heading into the conference meet next week.”

The Bobcats go to the Southeast Polk Invitational on Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Copper Creek Golf Club in Pleasant Hill.

Tiger Invitational

At Cedar Falls

Pheasant Ridge Golf Course, par 72

Team Standings — 1. Waukee 302, 2. Cedar Falls 302, 3. Cedar Rapids Prairie 313, 4. Western Dubuque 317, 5. Waukee Northwest 320, 6. Cedar Rapids Washington 320, 7. Marshalltown 320, 8. Linn-Mar 322, 9. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 326, 10. Iowa City Liberty 328, 11. Dubuque Senior, 12. Muscatine 342, 13. Dubuque Hempstead 364, 14. Waterloo East 389.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Owen Sawyer, CF, 70; 2. Tanner Dinnebier, WAU, 73; 3. Caden Postma, L-M, 73; 4. Nile Petersen, CRW, 74; 5. Grant Greazel, MHS, 74; 6. Max Tjoa, CF, 74; 7. Brock Seiser, WAU, 74; 8. Payton Burns, CRP, 75; 9. Nate Obbink, DSR, 76; 10. Tommy Stroud, WAU, 77.

MARSHALLTOWN (320) — Greazel 74, Drake Polley 80, Ryan Schmit 81, Colin Schmit 85, Kevin Strand 87, Ty Faltys 95.