Columbus corrals conference crown

FT. MADISON - It was a debate if they could even play. After nine holes the debate continued. Eventually, so did the Southeast Iowa Super Conference girls golf tournament at Sheaffer Memorial Golf Course Wednesday.

The Columbus High School girls golf team blew away the competition on a windy day at the 5,071 yard, par-72 course, scoring a 404 total to claim the team title. Mediapolis was second at 435. Perennial champion New London was third at 440. Highland was sixth at 474.

'(The wind) made a big difference on the back nine,” said Columbus Aubrey Duncan, who placed fifth. 'On the back nine it affected my game a lot. I was hitting right consistently. The wind didn't help that situation.”

The Wildcats have a new leader who picked up a conference title in her first year as coach.

'Nicole Hegewald is our coach this year, which is a change from last year,” said Columbus Kayla Beenen, who tied for third. 'We had Tony Simmons for a long time. Changing head coaches we didn't know how it was going to go. It's gone pretty well. She's done a lot of stuff that we've done in the past and given us new ideas that have helped us get better.”

Columbus had four girls finish in the top 10 earning all-conference first team honors.

'We came in here, all four of us knew that we were competitive and we were going to come out here and do what we do,” Duncan said. 'It's a great feeling.”

Beenen led the way for the Wildcats, tying for third with a score of 49 on the front nine and 48 on the back nine for a total of 97. She parred three holes.

'It felt pretty good,” Bennen said. 'I couldn't get the ball to go straight very much. I had to settle down and play my game. My chipping really helped a lot. There were a lot of places that were very wet, but playing the ball up helped get it out. Just settling down and playing how I know I can play.”

Only four girls scored under 100 and one was meet medalist Ruthie Jahn of Mediapolis, who shot 88.

Aubrey Duncan landed on 100 exactly with a front-nine score of 46 and 54 on the back. She placed fifth overall.

'My first nine was decent,” Duncan said. 'The second nine, my putting was a struggle. I kind of fell apart. Other than that, for the circumstances we had with the wet fairways and long, wet rough, I'm all right with what I shot.”

Duncan parred four holes on the day.

'On 18 I had a beautiful drive,” she said. 'I had about 180 yards left. My next shot was next to the green. I chipped on and I had a couple putts. But my irons and my driver were pretty decent. On the green was a struggle.”

Gracie Morrison tied for sixth with a 103, firing a 48 on the front and a 55 on the back.

Jobie Lekwa's 104 tied for eighth. She shot 53 on the front and 51 on the back.

Highland's Charlie Aicher (57-53-110)and Kayla Cerny (53-60-113) were third team all-conference. Teammate Carson Mellinger (60-59-119) was honorable mention.

'We've been looking forward to this all year,” Beenen said. 'We knew we had a good shot. We just had to come out here and get it done.”

'It's great. I wanted to come in here and individually, I wanted to take home medalist or runner-up, but unfortunately today it didn't happen,” Duncan said. 'But going out with a team title, that's more satisfying than individual.”

Team scores - 1. Columbus, 404; 2. Mediapolis, 435; 3. New London, 440; 4. Danville, 443; 5. Louisa-Muscatine, 455; 6. Highland, 474; 7. Winfield-Mount Union, 483; 8. Van Buren, 495; 9. Lone Tree, 540; 10. Wapello, 566. Central Lee, Holy Trinity and Notre Dame-West Burlington did not have enough golfers for a team score.

Medalists

1. Ruthie Jahn (Mepo), 88; 2. Summer Mallot (NL), 96; 3. tie, Kayla Beenen (Col.) and Addie Pry (NL), 97; 5. Aubrey Duncan (Col.), 100; 6. tie, Gracie Morrison (Col.) and Mallory Hohenadel (L-M), 103; 8. tie, Jobie Lekwa (Col.) and Ali Robu (HTC), 104; 10. Kolbie Bass (VB), 105.

Columbus - Aubrey Duncan 100, Jobie Lekwa 104, Kayla Beenen 97, Gracie Morrison 103, Atlie Hand 139

Highland - Charlie Aicher 110, Kayla Cerny 113, Emily Streb 132, Shantall Avandano 133, Joy Castaned 169, Carson Mellinger 119