Boys? golf earns trip to districts

All season, the focus for the Washington boys? golf team has been to get back to, and conquer, the Amana Colonies golf course.

Thursday, they earned their opportunity to do so.

The Demons went down to Burlington for their sectional tournament at Flint Hills Golf Course, and earned a qualification into the district meet by taking second place as a team.

That district meet will be held at the Amana Colonies on Wednesday.

?It was very rewarding for us,? Washington boys? golf head coach Mark Berhow said. ?It was a great example of the guys persevering through some challenging and windy conditions. We knew going in there was some tough competition, but I was glad to see that we finished the round.?

The Demons shot a team score of 327 to finish six strokes behind sectional champion Keokuk, using three of the top six scores posted in the tournament.

Demon sophomore Dalton Myers claimed fourth in the meet, with a low round of 80 to lead the Demons, while senior Derek Anding and junior Tanner Coleman each shot 81s to tie for fifth place. All three of the top-scoring Demons shot a 39 or better on the back nine.

?Dalton had three birdie opportunities on the back nine and Derek had a couple of birdies to put him in really good shape,? Berhow said. ?(Derek) was 1-under going into 17 and 18, so he was having some really good holes. Unfortunately he just missed a couple of par putts.?

Junior Noah Enfield used a strong first-nine 40 to help account for the final counting score of the day with an 85.

Sophomore Jacob Van Osdol claimed an 88 for the Demons, while freshman Ben Bohr shot a 96 to round out the Demons? scoring.

?We had expectations of advancing from this, and we hadn?t played our best golf coming into this meet,? Berhow said. ?They did a good job and I was proud of their effort.?

With sectionals done, the focus turns to Wednesday?s district meet, where the top two teams will qualify for the state meet.

?We are going to need to manage the course even better than yesterday,? Berhow said. ?It was challenging with the wind (on Thursday), which was blowing out of bounds. We need to improve on our mental game and our ability to hit the fairway. Amana is more challenging than the Flint Hills course, but we?ll be up there Sunday for a practice round.?

Solon?s Sterling McIlravy won the individual sectional championship with a 79, tying two Keokuk golfers at the meet.

Mt. Pleasant took third at the meet with a 339.

The district meet is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.