The only former champion in the championship flight, Cole Davis is far from alone.

The defending Times-Republican City Golf Tournament titlist has plenty of company in his quest to win for the fourth time. Davis takes a one-stroke lead into Sunday’s final 18 holes at Elmwood Country Club after shooting a 2-under-par 68 in Saturday’s opening round at the American Legion Memorial Golf Course.

A congested championship flight has 15 golfers within 10 strokes of each other, led by Davis, Rylan Weaver (1-under) and Brandon Dutton (even par). Joe Greazel (1-over) rounds out the final foursome for Sunday’s play at Elmwood, but it’s fair to think the entire flight is in contention for the championship.

Although Davis shot a 6-under 64 during last year’s opening round on his home course, so he’s probably still viewed as the player to beat.

“I like my chances with the three guys behind me, if I’m being honest,” Davis said, “just because they have really never been in that position with the last group. They’ll see it tomorrow, it’s a little different. There’s a lot of pressure.”

Davis said the self-implied pressure is plenty, even without the gallery of fans that assembles around the final foursome during the last day of play.

“I probably put more on myself than what I should, but I can feel it from other people around me,” he said. “I expect to win. You enter it because you want to win. I’m not playing this to get fifth place. I do enjoy the pressure, but yeah, it’s a lot.”

Davis has finished fifth or better in eight of the previous nine City Opens, winning in 2018, 2022 and 2024.

But 2025 is an odd number.

Even without some of the mainstays of Marshalltown golf playing this weekend, Davis has plenty of competition for this year’s title. Weaver, an East Marshall sophomore-to-be, and Greazel, a Marshalltown High school sophomore-to-be, will join Davis in the final group, along with Dutton, the defending Senior Division champion.

Weaver had two birdies and a bogey to drop 18 strokes from finishing round at the Legion during last year’s City Open, joining the championship flight for the first time. He was a member of East Marshall’s first-ever boys’ state golf tournament team, which placed fifth in Class 2A during the spring season.

He’s won a pair of Iowa Junior Golf tournaments this summer and just happened to play well, he said, in Saturday’s opening round.

“I wasn’t really expecting it, but I played really good I guess,” Weaver said. “I wasn’t hitting a lot of greens, but my chipper and putter were really good today. I got up and down a whole lot.”

Weaver birdied the par-4 eighth and 11th holes and bogeyed No. 9, but carded 15 pars to balance out his round going into Sunday.

“It means quite a lot because last year wasn’t very great and I haven’t been playing great,” Weaver said. “To come out here and shoot a good score and to be able to have a chance to do something tomorrow feels good.

“I knew some guys that finished high last year wouldn’t be playing in this so I knew that I could be up there at the end of the day.”

Dutton, who finished seventh overall in last year’s Open Division, offset two bogeys with back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 and the rest were pars.

“I played pretty well, actually,” he said. “Pretty consistent. I was just pretty much around the green all the time and got up and down a lot, putted it pretty well.”

Dutton believes he’ll be at a disadvantage during Sunday’s final 18 holes at Elmwood, which is the home course to Davis, Weaver and Greazel, among others. He’s also just two years shy of the combined age of his three playing partners.

“It’s going to be difficult, probably for me, because I don’t hit it as far as the younger guys do,” he said, “and we’re playing the black tees. But, you know, if I just keep it in play and get up and down, I think I’ll be OK.”

Greazel, whose older brother Grant was last year’s runner-up as well as the 2023 champion, bogeyed two of his last four holes to finish at 1-over 71. Joe finished ninth a year ago, and he will be the top returning scorer for the Marshalltown Bobcats this fall as well.

The final group tees off at 1:48 p.m.

Joe Myers, the superintendent at Wandering Creek Golf Course, was 14th a year ago. He shot a 2-over 72 on Saturday that included four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey. Aaron Fleming, who was fourth last year, stands sixth at 74. Paul Collins shot 75, and Taylor Wilson will join the second-to-last group off the tee box after shooting 76.

Troy Underhill, David Eichhorn Jr. and Todd Bolar also shot 76, and Chad Moler shot 77 to make up the next tee grouping. Tyler Slagle (77), Kent Carson (77) and Kelly Cooper (78) will be the first group of the championship flight off the first tee at Elmwood at 1:12 p.m.

Fleming and Moler made the championship flight for the fourth year in a row, Wilson is in it for the third time in the last four years, and Underhill is making back-to-back appearances after an eight-year stretch of top-10 finishes from 2012-2019.

Bolar is back in the championship flight for the first time since 2002.

Super Seniors

In the Super Senior Division, Rob Christensen leads after shooting a 2-over-par 73. Pat Ryan is second at 76, followed by Pete Kelly (78) and Mike Anderson (79).

Ryan is a two-time Senior champion, while Christensen and Kelly have claimed six of the last seven Super Senior titles.

Women’s Division

The five-player women’s competition is led by MHS sophomore-to-be Morgan Hilderbrand after the opening day. She shot an 11-over 82 to lead a familiar cast that includes Margaret Fehrle (84), Leiah Paustian (88), Leah Stahlin (88) and Riley Myers (89).

Paustian and Myers both had a pair of birdies on the day, Stahlin added another, but the best nine holes belonged to Fehrle, who shot a 2-over 37 on the back nine.

All five women will play together in Sunday’s final round at Elmwood, teeing off at 9:36 a.m.

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