Fairfield golfers outranked at Washington

WASHINGTON ? When the first round of Class 3A golf rankings were released Wednesday, Fairfield landed at No. 3 in the state.

When the Trojans went to the Washington Invite Thursday, they ended up fourth out of seven teams.

Eighth-ranked Washington ended up on top of the competitive field as it edged fourth-ranked Oskaloosa by one stroke, 319-320, to keep the title at home for the fourth straight year. Sixth-ranked Williamsburg fell to third place with a 334 while Fairfield claimed fourth with a 341.

?Tough day for us,? said head coach Mick Flattery. ?Cody Kool continues to be steady, but the rest of the team had a tough time adjusting to the weather and fast greens.?

Kool, who entered as the ninth-ranked individual, stayed right on his nine-hole average of 38.63 and ended up with an 18-hole score of 76 to place third overall.

Kool finished with three birdies ? two of which came on his second nine to help recover from an opening round of 40 and finish with a 36.

?He has great confidence in his game right now. He knows if he has a bad hole that he can birdie anything,? said Flattery.

Second-ranked Joe Harris was the individual medalist with a final tally of 74, and No. 16 Tyler Smith took second with a 75.

The rest of the Fairfield lineup followed Kool?s lead and shot better on their second nine, but could never fully recover from the out-of-character opening rounds.

Entering the tournament ranked No. 11, Davis Lowenberg shot a 45-41 to finish with an 86 in 15th place overall. Matt Carr added an 88 and Jordan Leazer carded a 91 to complete the team score.

?This ought to be great motivation for our guys to work even harder on their games knowing that we will see several of these teams in other tournaments and in the post-season,? Flattery added.

Washington, Oskaloosa, Mount Pleasant and Fort Madison are all on Fairfield?s slate for the sectional tournament while Williamsburg will likely be waiting at districts.

The Trojans? dual record now sits at 12-3 with a big week coming up. Another tournament appearance is in the works for Tuesday before they host Washington Thursday and then get ready for the Fairfield Invitational Saturday.