IOWA CITY - They played the first round of the Class 4A state golf tournament Friday and the winner was the Finkbine Golf Course.

Slick greens and windy conditions left many of the state'e elite golfers shaking their head in dismay as a succession of high scores came rolling off the University of Iowa course.

Cody Bell and Mitchell Martin led Kennedy with 7-over-par 79s, unusually high scores but good enough to leave the Cougars only 10 shots behind West Des Moines Valley heading into the final round on Saturday.

"It's do-able," said Kennedy Coach Mark Wilden said.

West Des Moines Valley took the lead with a four-man score of 21-over-par 309. Waukee is second at 311, with Dowling Catholic third at 314 and Kennedy fourth at 319.

"It's not impossible. It's golf. Anything can happen," Wilden said. "We can all shoot 72. It's going to take a good day on our part and not a particularly good day on their part. If we shoot 300 and they do what they did today, we're right there."

Kennedy has finished 3rd, 4th and 2nd at the state meet the last three years. The Cougars are in position for another top-5 finish, but the state title has been their goal all year.

Linn-Mar had a tough day Friday and stands in 11th place in the 12-team field at 334. Trevor Berry led the Lions with a 79.

J.P. King of Xavier posted the low score among Metro golfers Friday with a 6-over-par 78. The Saints did not qualify for the state meet as a team, but King qualified as an individual and is tied for seventh place going into the final round.

"I thought I did pretty well," King said. "I left a couple of shots out there, but that happens in golf."

King belted a long drive on the 401-yard No.1 hole and it got a favorable roll down a slope toward the green. He figured it probably went about 340 yards, leaving only a short chip to the green.

"I wasn't expecting it, I'll tell you that," he said. "I was pretty lucky. It rolled a long ways, but it was a good shot."

King hit a soft chip shot to about six feet from the cup and knocked it in for a birdie. "That was a good hole for me," he said.

King also hit a great chip on the 7th hole for a one-foot birdie. He enjoyed those short putts, because the longer ones were extremely tricky.

"Uphill you kind of baby it and leave it short," King said. "Downhill, if you hit it hard you would go screaming by. It was interesting putting out there."

Jeff Swegle of West Des Moines Valley tamed the wind and fast greens with a 3-under-par 69, by far the best round of the day and good for a six-shot lead heading into the final round.

"A 69 out here today is an unbelievably good round," said King, saluting the leader.

Wilden thought the greens were fast, but not unfair. "Typical Finkbine greens," he observed. "They're in great shape. The course is in great shape."

Bell and Brigham Stewart had a total of seven 3-putt greens for the Cougars, accounting for much of their 10-stroke deficit. Both of them are normally good putters and play in the No.1 and No.2 spots for Kennedy. Stewart shot an 8-over 80.

"If we took all of our 3-putts out from just our top two guys, we're seven strokes better," Wilden said. "We just have to cut down on those mistakes.

"We have to adjust to the speed of the greens and you have to position your ball on the greens," he said. "Unfortunately we were not always in the fairway, so that made it tough for us to be where we wanted to be on the greens."

Harrison Moore was Kennedy's fourth scorer Friday with a 9-over-par 81. Tayler Kalina shot an 82 and Jake Wilding had an 83.

Linn-Mar senior Tyler McCann, the runnerup at the district meet Tuesday with a 74, struggled and finished at 15-over-par 87 Friday. Kyle Hackett shot an 84 for the Lions, Trevor McCann had an 85, Clay Vieth 86 and Mark Drake 93.

CLASS 4A STATE GOLF
Finkbine Golf Course
Iowa City
6,586 Yards, Par 72

Team Standings

1. West Des Moines Valley 309, 2. Waukee 311, 3. Dowling Catholic 314, 4. Kennedy 319, 5. (tie) Ottumwa 322; Ankeny 322, 7. Iowa City High 323, 8. Muscatine 327, 9. Ames 329, 10. Bettendorf 331, 11. Linn-Mar 334, 12. Cedar Falls 337.


Top 15 Individuals

1.  Jeff Swegle, WDM Valley              69
2.  Connor Littlefield, Waukee            75
Grant Campbell, Waukee               75
4.  Thomas Gouveia, WDM Valley       76
5.  Braxton Coble, Ottumwa              77
Jon Calhoun, Dowling                   77
7.  J.P. King, Xavier                         78
Austin Howe, Waukee                78
Rob Taylor, Dowling                   78
Dustin Atkinson, Ames                78
11. Cody Bell, Kennedy                   79
Mitchell Martin, Kennedy             79
Trevor Berry, Linn-Mar                79
Grant Simpson, City High            79
Jacob Bermel, Cedar Falls           79
Taylor Rittman, Ankeny             79
Britton VanderLinden, Indianola  79

AMES - Kurt Martin 80, Dustin Atkinson 78, Connor Power 88, Jack Sanders 89, Ryan Wengert 88, Dom Sorrentino 83.

ANKENY - Connor Peck 81, Andrew Huseman 80, Taylor Rittman 79, Griffin Matthias 88, Jesse Peck 85, Joey Rinker 82.

BETTENDORF - Cody Bender 89, Dan Robsinson 80, Alex Pohlmann 81, Brett Gaydos 96, Mitch Elkin 92, Nick Atwell 81.

CEDAR FALLS - Jacob Bermel 79, Wil Hunemuller 85, Jared Deines 86, Andy Kloos 93, Alec Braun 87, Jon Skarlis 93.

KENNEDY - Cody Bell 79, Brigham Stewart 80, Mitchell Martin 79, Harrison Moore 81, Jake Wilding 83, Tyler Kalina 82.

DOWLING - Jon Calhoun 77, Jack Gradoville 82, Sammy DeBartolo 77, Rob Taylor 78, Ricky DeBartolo 82, James Hansen 85.

IOWA CITY HIGH - Grant Simpson 79, Ryan Duncan 81, Nate Goddard 83, Trent Bedford 97, Zachary MacMillan 82, Patrick Jordan 81.

LINN-MAR - Tyler McCann 87, Trevor Berry 79, Clay Vieth 86, Mark Drake 93, Kyle Hackett 84, Trevor McCann 85.

MUSCATINE - Josh Anderson 80, Michael Canfield 82, Alex Snyder 83, Drake Decker 84, Tyler Askren 82, Adam Hutton 89.

OTTUMWA - Matt Walker 82, Christian Archer 83, Erik Thorgaard 83, Joe Wetrich 80, Braxton Coble 77, Dillon Patritto 94.

WDM VALLEY - Jeff Swegle 69, Broc Everett 84, Thomas Gouveia 76, Isaac Vandersee 80, Sam Elliott 84, Cole Wyckoff 85.

WAUKEE - Mike Woofter 83, Grant Campbell 75, Austin Howe 78, Zach Knudtson 86, Connor Littlefield 75, Aaron DeNucci 85.