OTTUMWA — The next time the Ottumwa Golf and Social Club hosts a high school tournament this big, trips to the state tournament will be on the line.
If Dallas Center-Grimes is one of the teams sent to Ottumwa for the Class 4A state qualifier, Noah Moberg will certainly bring with him plenty of confidence back to Wapello County. Moberg put on a back-nine charge worthy of any memorable tournament win on Tuesday, posting a pair of eagles and a birdie for a five-under-par finish on the final six holes, claiming individual medalist honors at the Ottumwa Invitational by ultimately posting the only sub-par round of the tournament.
Moberg’s finish clinched a one-under-par round of 71, edging Burlington senior Tomas Rascon and Norwalk senior Grady Sigrist by a single stroke in a sensational battle to the finish with both the team and individual championships hanging in the balance on the back nine. Rascon nearly matched Moberg’s round of 71, narrowly missing a birdie putt from just over 10 feet out to the left edge of the hole on the 18th green moments after Moberg lipped out what would have been his second birdie putt in three holes.
“I was able to drive the green on the 14th hole and made a putt for eagle. That really seemed to heat up my putter,” Moberg said. “I just didn’t really miss a shot the rest of the way. My ball striking got a lot better after that first eagle. I didn’t miss a fairway or a green. It got pretty simple for me from there.”
Ottumwa senior Chase Thompson found himself battling throughout the day with Moberg. Playing in the same group along with Rascon and Des Moines Roosevelt senior Tony Song, Thompson matched Moberg on the front nine with a round of 37, just one stroke behind Rascon, Sigrist and Indianola senior Tyler Santi for the best front-nine score in the tournament.
“Noah struggled on the front nine and it was kind of the same thing to start the back nine,” Thompson said. “He made a really big par save on the 11th hole. I thought that was what really got his confidence going. When he made that eagle putt on the 14th, it was lights out from there.”
The five-under-par finish ultimately helped clinch the Ottumwa Invitational team title for Dallas Center-Grimes. The Mustangs posted a team score of 296 with five golfers collecting one of the 18 pin flags given out to the top 18 individuals in the tournament, edging Norwalk by just six strokes.
Indianola finished third in the tournament with a score of 311. Ottumwa placed fourth coming off a 12-day break from competition with a team score of 323, the second-lowest score of the season so far for the Bulldogs, with Thompson finishing sixth overall after posting a season-best score of 75.
“As long a time as we had off, posting a 323 is great,” Ottumwa head boys golf coach Kyle Creamer said. “We challenged ourselves to get to 320. It was a little bit difficult with the breeze. The greens are really rolling right now. For counting three scores in the 80s, shooting a 323 is pretty good.”
Stephen Brinegar narrowly missed out on collecting a flag of his own, finishing in a four-way tie for 17th with a score of 80 ultimately losing out on a card off to Dallas Center-Grimes sophomore Parker Ellingboe and Norwalk senior Kaleb Foltz for the final two spots in the top 18. Logan Storto posted a round of 82 for the Bulldogs while Gavin Monaghan helped clinch fourth place in the tournament for Ottumwa with a round of 86, keeping the Bulldogs 14 strokes ahead of Iowa Alliance south division rival Des Moines Roosevelt less than two weeks after falling seven strokes short of the Roughriders in a conference dual.
“Stephen actually had a better round going. He got a bad bounce on his final hole and hit one out of bounds. That ultimately cost him about four strokes,” Creamer said. “For some of the guys, it’s a good reminder that this is a long season. It’s a grind and there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. I’m confident that some of those guys we’re counting on that had somewhat higher scores won’t have those scores so high throughout most of the season.”
Ottumwa’s junior varsity team also produced a solid score with a round of 379. Roen Miller produced his best score of his initial high school golf season as the Bulldog freshman matched Monaghan with a round of 86 to lead the Ottumwa JV while Ethan Reynolds posted a 92, the sixth overall lowest score of any of the 16 Bulldog golfers that teed it up on Tuesday finishing ahead of OHS varsity golfers Milo Canny and Tate Harness.
“Depth is something that every team is looking for,” Creamer said. “We talked with those guys that are in those 5-10 spots and let them know that this would be a good opportunity. Everyone had to play the same course. It was a nice chance to challenge each other. Gavin and Roen really stepped up with rounds of 86. We can use those type of scores going forward. Hopefully, they’ll just continue to go lower.”
The Ottumwa Golf and Social Club will play host to a Class 4A state qualifying meet on Oct. 7. Only Norwalk, who be hosting one of the other four state qualifying tournaments, is assured of not returning to Ottumwa to compete for a state berth later this season.
“We’re not sure completely who will be here, but it’s possible we’ll see a lot of these same teams back here next month,” Creamer said. “If you take away Norwalk, we finished third in this tournament. That’s where you’ve got to be at to have a chance to make it to state. We wanted to just play for ourselves and see what we can do. For us, 323 is average. We feel like we can down around a 315, which would put us right there battling with Indianola.
“We’ve got a lot of golf to go before we get back here in a few weeks. We’ll see where we end up.”
Next up for Ottumwa will be a trip to Flint Hills Golf Course in Burlington for a dual with the Grayhounds. Action on Monday afternoon tees off at 1 p.m.
