MUSCATINE

A total of 15 teams aimed to make their mark at this year’s River Valley Boys Golf Conference Meet and led by the individual champion play of Bryce Henry, Mid-Prairie earned its best conference finish since 2019. 

Shooting a season low 314, the Golden Hawks (ranked sixth heading into the conference meet) finished just one stroke behind West Liberty to earn a second place finish at the Muscatine Municipal Golf Course on May 6.   

“I am very proud of this group.  They have worked hard all season for this.”  Mid-Prairie coach Kelby Bender said about his team’s runner-up performance at the conference meet. “It was a beautiful day for golf and the course was in great shape for low scoring. Our golfers were focused and ready to play well.”

It was an outstanding outing for Henry as he led Mid-Prairie with a new personal best one over par 73 to finish first individually in a field of 50. The standout junior made 11 pars and three birdies.

In the past two years Henry has come up just short of earning All-Conference awards but this time around he left nothing to doubt as the 2025 RVC Individual Champion.

“He played really good golf today.  He didn’t make any big mistakes, stayed calm and mentally tough today,” coach Bender said about Henry. “Bryce has put in the work and today it paid off.  He is Mid-Prairie’s first individual conference champion since Matt Berg in 2006.”

Also earning conference recognition was Denver Nelson as the Mid-Prairie sophomore tied for eighth place with a six over par 78, making six pars and three birdies. This placement earned Nelson first-team all-conference honors and his score was a new personal best

“I knew he had it in him and he finally put it all together today,” coach Bender said of Nelson’s performance at the conference meet.

Rounding out the team score and both earning honorable mention all-conference accolades were Hudson Ehrenfelt and Ace Peck, who both shot new personal bests. 

Ehrenfelt, a junior, made eight pars and two birdies to tie for 22nd with 81 and not too far behind was Peck, a senior, who made eight pars and one birdie to tie for 26th with 82.     

“These two have been playing really well for us the last few meets,” coach Bender said of Ehrenfelt and Peck. “It is great to see a senior like Ace finish the season like he has.”

The last two golfers to post scores for Mid-Prairie were Grayson Gingerich and Clayton Davidson who both ended with 89 to tie for 48th.

“We have six golfers that can all score for us,” coach Bender said. “Clayton and Grayson didn’t today but they have performed well and helped us get to where we are at. It takes all six to be a great team.”

Mid-Prairie 161, Keota 165

Polishing off the regular season with a dual on the road, the Golden Hawks (42-16-1) defeated Keota (28-10) by four strokes last Thursday.   

“We played well and held off a quality Keota team on their home course,” Mid-Prairie coach Kelby Bender said. “Once again, our varsity showed our depth that any of the six can score low.”

A senior club led the way for the Hawks as Ace Peck was the meet medalist with a one over par 37. Peck made four pars and two birdies.  Teammate Clayton Davidson finished with 40, making three pars and two birdies.

Bringing up the back half of the team score, both Bryce Henry and Hudson Ehrenfelt shot identical scores of 42.

For the postseason, Mid-Prairie traveled to Monroe to compete in a 2A IHSAA Golf Sectional meet on May 14.