OTTUMWA — Kyle Creamer has a number in mind.
For the Ottumwa High School boys golf team, it all comes down to one day and 18 holes to produce the number needed to earn one of three tickets to the Iowa State Tournament.
The Bulldogs wrapped up the regular season competing this week competing in a home quadrangular at Cedar Creek Golf Course as well as the Iowa Alliance Conference Tournament on Thursday at Elmwood Golf Course in Marshalltown. Ottumwa posted a team score of 318 on Monday, finishing third to Dallas Center-Grimes and Indianola, before posting a fourth-place finish with a score of 344.
“The course was tough. So were the playing conditions,” Creamer said. “It’s all about focus on Monday. It’s all about putting the shots in play and moving on to the next one. There shouldn’t be any excuses on Monday. The conditions should be great and we’re playing on our home course.”
Warm, windy conditions made Elmwood even more treacherous Thursday with slippery greens and an assortment of false fronts on highly-elevated greens penalizing every errant approach shot. Marshalltown would bring home the Iowa Alliance Conference team title, but needed a team score of 315 to accomplish the feat showcasing just how tough scoring conditions were.
Chase Thompson earned second-team all-conference honors on Thursday after finishing in 11th-place with a 13-over-par total of 83, eight shots behind Iowa Alliance medalist Bowen Flemming of Ames. The precision needed to produce a better score at Elmwood should serve as good preparation for the Bulldogs as they prepare to host Monday’s Class 4A state qualifying meet at the Ottumwa Golf and Social Club on a course that can also drastically penalize wayward shots.
“It’s a lot more target golf,” Creamer said. “It’s not a long course, so it’s all about putting the ball in play and giving yourself the next shot available. There are a lot of hazards and a lot of ways that you can get yourself in trouble. Hopefully, that can work to our advantage.”
Ottumwa spent the final two meets of the season learning to deal with shots out of position on certain holes. Thompson posted a score of 73 to lead the Bulldogs at Cedar Creek in Monday’s quadrangular with Indianola, DC-G and Burlington coming close to breaking par and challenging for medalist honors heading into the final hole before making a double bogey on the 18th after hitting his second shot over the green.
“It was about 135 yards to the pin, which is usually a live pitching wedge for me,” Thompson said. “It was on a downhill lie, so I swung at it and it ended up going almost 150 yards. I really didn’t know what to do about it. I ended up hitting a terrible chip and hit the next put about 10 feet by.
“I’m not mad about it. It is what it is. I still hit most of my shots really well. I’m looking forward to Monday.”
Stephen Brinegar posted a score of 76 at Cedar Creek on Monday before coming home with a 93 on a tough day at Elmwood in the conference tournament. Three holes may have prevented Brinegar from earning all-conference honors with a combined score of 25 on the par-5 seventh, par-4 14th and par-4 18th ultimately dropping Brinegar back to 31st in the tournament.
“My driver seemed to be spraying everywhere. I just could not seem to find a fairway,” Brinegar said. “My putting really helped me out (on Monday). I was able to make up some shots on the green. I just need to work on getting the ball closer to the flag from 100 or 150 yards out. I just need to get the ball on the green as close as I can in regulation. That’s what will keep those scores of six or higher away. I can’t let a bad shot or two derail my round.”
Logan Storto played the most steady golf of the week for the Bulldogs, following up a round of 79 at Cedar Creek on Monday with a round of 84 to finish in 14th place at the conference tournament on Thursday. The potential depth of Ottumwa was also on display with Tate Harness and Gavin Monaghan improving their scores from Monday’s quadrangular at the conference meet with Harness vaulting from a 93 at Cedar Creek to a round of 88 at Elmwood, producing four pars in the process, while Monaghan again broke 90 this season with a round of 89 in the conference tournament after bringing in a score of 90 at Cedar Creek on Monday.
“Anytime you get three scores down in the 70s, like we did on Monday, you’ll take that every time,” Creamer said. “We just need to get that fourth score down at or below 80 to give ourselves a real chance. The guys were trying as hard as they could to stay below the pins. There are always a few shots in every round you would like to have back. You just have to stay in play on Monday and, once you’re around the greens, go after the hole.”
Ottumwa finishes the regular season with a 18-hole scoring average of 324.9 with Thursday’s round of 344 at Elmwood producing the team’s highest score of the season. Of course, the round of 344 came just over a week after Ottumwa’s lowest score, a 301 at the Steve Spray Invitational in Indianola on a course very similar to the Ottumwa Golf and Social Club.
According to Creamer, it will take a very similar score on Monday for Ottumwa to achieve the dream they’ve been chasing all season.
“It’s probably going to take 300,” Creamer said. “You never know what it’s going to be like on Monday. Right now, it’s supposed to be 70-degree temperatures and very nice. If we get 25-mile-an-hour winds, the scores are likely to go up, but that’s not what’s in the forecast.
“If conditions are perfect, based on the teams that are coming here, it’s going to take 300 or better. We’re capable of that. Every shot is going to be important on Monday.”
