Mid-Prairie golf teams find success in first competition of the season

By Giovanni Coronel
Posted 3/29/23

With Spring finally descending upon Iowa, the time was ripe for a new spring sports season to finally come to fruition. One of the many lively sports spring has to offer is golf.  

Kicking …

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Mid-Prairie golf teams find success in first competition of the season

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With Spring finally descending upon Iowa, the time was ripe for a new spring sports season to finally come to fruition. One of the many lively sports spring has to offer is golf. 

Kicking off its season, the Mid-Prairie boys golf team traveled to the Kalona Golf Course on March 27 to compete against Regina Catholic in a River Valley Conference dual. 

The Mid-Prairie girls golf team took a trip to the Pleasant Valley Golf Course in Iowa City to face off against Regina Catholic and Xavier in a tri-meet, also on March 27.

 

Boys Results 

It was a great day for golf, weather wise, and in its first meet of the year the Golden Hawks walked away with a victory over Regina Catholic. Both the Mid-Prairie varsity, with a final score of 167-214, and junior varsity, with a final score of 231-253, teams emerged victorious over Regina Catholic.

Freshman Bryce Henry had the standout performance for the Golden Hawks in the varsity lineup. Henry was the meet medalist after finishing nine holes with a two over par 38. The highlight moment for Henry came on the par four third hole, finishing the hole with three swings of his golf club, a birdie three.

“Putting was working for me tonight,” Henry told KCII sports after the meet. “I didn’t have a single three-putt, and had a lot of par saves. It’s great seeing the team do well.”

Overall Henry finished the meet by making five pars in total. 

“Going in, I was excited about the season and knew we had a chance at posting quality scores,” Mid-Prairie coach Kelby Bender said. “I thought it may take some time with so many newcomers and freshmen. I knew Warren and Drew would be solid and great leaders.  Having Bryce and Clayton play so well in their first meet is exciting.  All four of them have put in a lot of work over the summer and in the offseason. 

Senior Warren Scarff was the runner-up medalist for the varsity team and finished with a three over par 39. Throughout the round he managed to make five pars. 

“Hole two was key for me tonight. After I chunked a tee shot I was able to get on the green. Overall tonight, everything kind of clicked together for me,” Scarff told KCII sports after the meet. “It was very nice to see the team play this well. I have helped my teammates. We talk to each other, we help each other out at practice, and it’s awesome to see it work out here!”

Rounding out the varsity team scores, Junior Drew Schlabaugh and freshman Clayton Davidson both shot 45, senior Alex Bean shot 49, and Aiden Bush shot a 54. 

“Senior Alex Bean, out for the first time, played well in his first meet scoring a 49 and senior Ben Mattes shot 48 for JV Medalist,” Bender said. “Junior Carson Pence was the JV runner-up medalist with a 59.  Senior Aiden Bush who was unable to play last year due to injury shot 54, but played well after struggling on his first hole of the round.”

The Golden Hawks traveled to Washington to compete against Columbus and Washington on March 28. Originally scheduled for March 30 this meet was rescheduled due to potentially bad weather. 

“I am proud of all the golfers, JV through Varsity.  They have worked hard the first two weeks of practice and were ready to compete today.  This was a great start to the season,” Bender said.

 

Girls Results  

Competing against the Xavier Saints and the Regina Reglas in a tri-meet at Pleasant Valley Golf Course the Golden Hawks opened its season with a split, being the runner up out of three teams. 

Xavier took the win with a final score of 177, Mid-Prairie took second place with a final score of 198, and Regina Catholic ended up in last with a final score of 261. 

Mid-Prairie Junior Gabi Robertson had the top finish for the Golden Hawks at this tri-meet. She finished with a nine hole score of 45 and shot a par on hole seven with four swings of her golf club. 

Junior Madi Davidson was the runner-up scorer for Mid-Prairie. She ended her night with a nine hole score of 49. Davidson shot two pars at this meet, on hole four with three strokes and on five with four strokes.   

“I can’t recall the last time our girls opened the season with a sub 200 stroke score. This is really a reflection of how hard the girl’s have worked the past two weeks and really since open gyms started in January,” Mid-Prairie coach Tracy McArtor said. “The success they finished last year’s season with has really carried over and the kids were ready to jump in right out of the gate. We’ve definitely got some areas of our game to work on, but the girls played pretty darn solid today. 

Rounding out the varsity team scores, junior Elliot Debler, senior Alexa Huber, and senior Kylie Reinier all finished with a nine hole score of 52. Sophomore Addison English ended the meet with a nine hole score of 55. 

The next stop for the Mid-Prairie girls golf team was Washington. The Golden Hawks traveled to Washington and faced off against Columbus and Washington in a triangular on March 28. Similar to the boys team, this meet was moved to this date in anticipation of bad weather on the original date.