CL girls tie for third at State Golf Meet

Inclement weather  forced the cancellation of Wednesday’s second round of the Class 4A State Golf Meet at Ames. With the cancellation, the 18-hole scores from Tuesday were declared the tournament final results.  Clear Lake finished in a tie with Grinnell for third place with an 18-hole total of 360.  Charles City captured the team title with 330.  Cedar Rapids Xavier was runner-up with 352.

Charles City senior Jessie Sindlinger, who shot a state record eight-under par 65 Tuesday, became just the second golfer in state history to win four individual titles in winning the 4A medalist crown. She joins Dubuque’s Sharon Fladoos, who won medalists championships from 1958-61, as the only four-time medalists. 

A pair of Clear Lake seniors finished in the top 10 overall.

Megan Loux led the Lions.  She was tied for fifth with a nine-over-par 82.  Loux opened the tournament strong, finishing just one-over par on the front nine.  Loux played well and actually beat the four-time state champ from Charles City on the front nine, shooting 39.  

Malorie Fischels’ 12-over par 85 placed her ninth overall.  

“We are excited about the third place finish,” said Coach Fred Wieck.  “The conditions in Ames were very tough as rain had soaked the course.  We shot our best 18-hole round of the year on Tuesday.  Wednesday we were playing great golf.”

“Hailey Horner shot a great round of 44 on the back nine,” continued the coach.  “We were also poised to get good rounds from Paige Backhaus and Malorie Fischels.  As luck would have it, the rains came and washed the day away and we were forced to revert to our day one scores.”

Backhaus, a sophomore, finished 20th overall in Class 4A with a 93.  Horner completed Clear Lake’s scoring with a round of 100.

Also competing at the State Meet was Annie Snyder, who carded a 112, and Madi Hess, with 120.

“We will miss the seniors,” said Wieck.  “Malorie Fischels was a two-time top 10 place winner at State and an individual conference champ.  Megan Loux was Regional champ and fifth place State winner.  Hailey Horner played number four for us and provided our fourth score most of the year.  Annie Snyder anchored the number six spot all year.  And Jeanette Davis came out this year to learn the game.  In the four years that these seniors were in high school, the girls golf team won two State titles had one runner-up finish and a third place State finish.  They should be very proud of their accomplishments.”

Inclement weather also forced the cancellation of  the Class 5A State Golf Meet at Lake Panorama, giving Waukee  the Class 5A team title. This is the second-straight state crown for the Warriors, who won the 4A team crown last year. Anna Cullinan of Pleasant Valley and Waukee’s Kelsy Shay shared medalist honors with an 18-hole score of 76.

  Carroll Kuemper Catholic was the Class 3A team champion.  The 3A championship was also played at Ames. South Tama’s Paige Van Dyk was the Class 3A medalist, shooting a one-under par 72.

The Class 1A and 2A tournaments in Marshalltown were able to get two full days of golf played. In a battle of perennial 1A powers, Grundy Center edged defending 1A champ and North Central Conference member Algona Bishop Garrigan by two strokes to win the 1A state crown.  Bishop Garrigan Junior Alexa Capesius shot a (79-71) 150 to win Class 1A medalist honors, 14 shots better than Valley Community’s Jodi Schott.

  Alta-Aurelia easily outdistanced Dike-New Hartford to win the Class 2A team title.  The Warriors won by 48 strokes, led by Kelsi Snyder’s (86-82) 168.  Nashua-Plainfield’s Sarah McMichael edged Dike-New Hartford’s Briana Weber by one stroke to take 2A medalist honors. McMichael shot a (79-81) 160.