It was a great day for Comet boys’ golf.
That’s the reaction of second year coach Nick Frenz as the West Liberty High School boys’ golf team won a five-team invitational match at Anamosa’s Wapsi Creek Golf Course Monday, with three Comets scoring among the top five in the 18-hole outing.
It was Frenz first win as a coach, noting although that was exciting, “even more exciting is that it is all of the boys' first tournament victory. I have been preaching throughout the first weeks of our season that we have a great opportunity to see success and be really competitive so it was reassuring to see those thoughts come to fruition.”
West Liberty put together a 338 total four-man team score to take the title over Camanche, which finished 19 strokes back at 357, followed by Anamosa with 369, Maquoketa at 370 and Don Bosco of Gilbertville at 373.
West Liberty’s Ty Jones was just one stroke off the outing medalist, Noah Nabb of Maquoketa, as he put together a 76 while Colin Cassady was third in the individual performances with an 85, followed closely by a fourth place performance from Shane Elder at 86, tying Bryce Buckley of Camanche.
Preston Daufeldt rounded out the West Liberty scoring with an 11th place finish at 91.
Frenz complimented the play of Jones, pointing out the junior had a “really nice round.”
“He ended up being tournament runner up by the count of one stroke which disappointed him but was, again, reassuring to see,” Frenz said. “Shane Elder had quite the impressive round, finishing in the top five along with Ty and Colin, and shooting 30 strokes better than he did at the same tournament last year.”
The coach said it is great to see his top guys' scores becoming more consistent. “We look forward to the rest of the year and hope to continue seeing success,” he added.
It was a nice comeback for the Comets after getting beat by a talented West Branch team the previous week.
Other Comet golfers included Cole Daufeldt with a 96 while Cael Daufeldt finished with a 102.
The team travels to Solon for a noon match this Friday, April 8, before hosting Iowa City Regina on Monday, April 11, for a 4 p.m. match at West Liberty Golf & Country Club, followed on Tuesday when the Comets hit the road to play Mid-Prairie in Kolona on Tuesday beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Girls play invitational
Although not qualifying for a team score, West Liberty High School’s girls golf team had two golfers finish in the top six Monday at the Anamosa Invitational at Wapsi Creek according to head coach James Laughlin.
Aly Harned scored a 104 on the 18-hole course for the Comets to finish in fourth place while Mylei Henderson scored a 106, giving her a tie for sixth place individually.
Host Anamosa won the team tournament with a score of 412 for their top four golfers while Don Bosco of Gilbertville followed in second with a score of 450.
“I am very proud of our two girls who did a tremendous job in some tough playing conditions,” said Laughlin/ “Weather was very cold and windy all day, and course conditions were wet and muddy.”
The coach said he’s “looking forward to our next meet” on Wednesday April 13, at Pleasant Valley.