AMES

Jace Rempel had never been on this state-championship stage before.

In fact, no Hillcrest Academy golfer had reached the state tournament since 2013.

The enormity of it all hit Remple quickly last week at the Ames Golf & Country Club.

“The first tee on both days. They had tents set up and it said PGA Iowa selection. And it was just like a surreal moment, kind of,” said Rempel, a junior who qualified for the Iowa Class 1A state championship by clinching an individual spot with a 12-over-par 84 in the state qualifier at Pleasant Valley. “I just realized I had to take it all in, you know.”

Remple had rounds of 91 and 87, carrying him into a 16^th-place tie and fulfilling a goal in his first state tournament.

“I kind of wanted to get Top 20, which I was able to accomplish,” he said. “There are a lot of golfers there and a lot of really good golfers. So I was happy with how it turned out. And my scores were pretty solid. So I was happy with that.”

Rempel played stronger as the tournament went on.

Ravens coach Phil Schintler said Rempel’s last drive off the tee was 300 yards on the 18^th hole. He scored pars on four of his last five holes to climb up the leaderboard.

“He gave himself so many opportunities with great shots that led to a lot of birdie opportunities and two-putts,” Schintler said.

Rempel started out with a 48 on the back nine holes at the course in the opening round May 23, but then rebounded with a 43 on his next nine holes to finish the first day in 23^rd place.

“The first day wasn’t the best,” Rempel said. “I was really nervous going into it. So I started out not too hot, but then I kind of regained composure.”

“Once the nerves calmed down, he turned into his old consistent self and just shot really well,” Schintler said.

Playing through a steady drizzle on the second day, Rempel had a round of 87 and joined four other golfers with a two-day total of 178. He finished one stroke behind 15^th-place finisher Landyn Vossberg of Akron-Westfield.

Bennett Berger of Lake Mills won the individual title with a two-day score of 150. Lake Mills won the team title with a score of 673, beating runner-up East Buchanan by 16 strokes.

Rempel’s strong performances throughout the state tournament and qualifiers punched up high expectations for the 2023 season. As a team, the Ravens finished second in the sectionals at Knoll Ridge and missed qualifying for the state tournament by just 9 strokes in the district tournament at Pleasant Valley.

“Jace has clearly matured as a golfer over the past two weeks or so, proving he can play with the best in Iowa,” Schintler said. “Next season, he and the rest of the team will be fun to watch.”

But in the meantime, it’s baseball. He returned in time from the second day of the golf state tournament May 24 to play for the Ravens in their baseball opener against Highland.

(News sports editor Jeff Yoder contributed to this report)