Patterson, Duncan end seasons at state

Two area golfers ended their seasons at the state golf tournaments.

In Class 1A at Marshalltown, Columbus' Aubrey Duncan posted a 94 on the first 18 holes of play and 91 on the second 18, giving her a total of 185 and earning 21st place overall. Tuesday's first round of 18 was played in rain and Duncan's Aubrey's group only played 15 holes before the meet was postponed. On Wednesday, she finished the remaining three holes and then played 18 more for the second day.

'Aubrey knew she could have done better than she did, but she was glad she beat her score from last year at state,” Columbus coach Nicole Hegewald said. ‘I'm extremely proud of everything she was able to accomplish this year! I wish her the best of luck in her future golf endeavors.”

Mid-Prairie junior Abbi Patterson finished 19th in the individual medal race at the Class 2A meet at Ames Country Club.

Patterson posted rounds of 85-92 for a 177 stroke total.

Tuesday's first round was halted due to weather with a hole left to play for Patterson, leaving an early morning start on Wednesday to finish the round, then re-group for Round 2.

Course conditions were extremely wet which constituted the need to play 'pick, clean and place” for both days and also took all the bunkers out of play due to the inability to get them playable. A steady drizzle for the first half of Tuesday really made for some trying conditions.

'Abbi was a prepared as she could be heading into the state tournament, with some great practice at home leading up to the event,” Mid-Prairie coach tracey McArtor said. 'We spent some good time working on her short game and putting and that paid big dividends, especially on Day 1. Abbi made a ton of putts both days, but Tuesday's first round, she really shined. Her score of 85 was a career best for her and what a great time to pull that out of her bag. Things were a little tougher on Wednesday, but she kept her head in the game and worked hard to not let her emotions get to her. Even with a 92, she was still below her average, and given the scope of the event and the course conditions she did an awesome job.”

The coach and player spent some time prior to the meet setting goals for the two-day event.

'Abbi exceeded every goal,” McArtor said. 'There were a couple little bumps in the road leading up the first day.”

A broken club during Monday's practice round turned into a mad dash to the local golf store to get a new shaft and an alarm clock issue on Tuesday morning made for a few nervous moments, but all ended well.

'I'm so proud of what Abbi accomplished this week and how hard she worked to get ready,” McArtor said. 'She also had great friend and family support from home that came up to cheer her on which was great to see and much appreciated.”