Jefferson Girls Golf

Furnish's 34 leads J-Hawks to win

Megan Furnish shot a 2-over par 34 Tuesday for medalist honors and led Jefferson to victory at the Prairie girls golf triangular at Airport National.

Washington's MJ Kamin shot a 37 and was runnerup.

Prairie's Alyssa Beisker shot a 46 to lead the Hawks to second place.

PRAIRIE TRIANGULAR
At Airport National

JEFFERSON (185): Megan Furnish 34, Emily Aukes 49, Megan Kibby 50, Sammy Seeman 52

PRAIRIE (191): Alyssa Beisker 46, Konnor Griffith 46, Emily Perrin 49, Kerstin Flugum 50

WASHINGTON (196): MJ Kamin 37, Kandis O'Donnell 52, Sophia Ochs 52, Anna Rohde 55

Furnish glad she gave golf a second look

DUBUQUE - Megan Furnish began playing golf when she was about 8 years old, but it didn't stick as her favorite sport the first time around.

"I actually quit for a couple of years to play softball," she said Monday with a smile.

Furnish picked up the golf clubs again when she was about 12 and hasn't put them down since. "I figured this is something I want to keep doing and stick to it and get good at it," she said.

The Cedar Rapids Jefferson senior has become very, very good at it.

She's developed into the top high school golfer in the Metro area and ranks as one of the top in the state, and next year she'll begin playing in college at Missouri State University.

Furnish won another major championship Monday when she claimed top honors at the Mississippi Valley Conference divisional meet at Bunker Hill in Dubuque on a delightful day for golf.

Furnish shot a 6-over-par 75 on the lush, rolling hills in Dubuque to give her a 36-hole score of 147 and a seven-stroke victory over Alison Roling of Cedar Falls.

Furnish won the MVC Super Meet title last week at Ellis Park with a 72, and her 36-hole score of 147 makes her the Valley Division champion as well. "It's nice," she said after the victory was confirmed. "It's a good way to end, because the season is almost done."

Her next big goal -- in fact, the biggest goal of the season -- will be qualifying for the state tournament, something that's eluded her the last two two years as a varsity golfer.

Maddie Bertsch of Xavier claimed third place in the Valley Division standings with a 36-hole score of 161. Grace Winker placed seventh with a 171 and Taylor Wertzberger finished 12th to give the Saints three golfers in the top-dozen at Bunker Hill.

Cedar Falls ran away with the Valley Division title with a four-girl, 36-hole score of 650. The Xavier Saints finished second in the seven-team tournament at 721.

Furnish played softball at a high level as a young girl for the Blue Devils -- "I was OK," she said modestly -- but golf became her passion and her love. She enjoys being outdoors, on a golf course, challenging herself to improve and hit good shots.

"It's just a relaxing mood for me," she said.

Furnish credits her father, Craig, with being a big influence in her life and in her budding golf career. They frequently play golf together and he's a regular fan at her meets, just as he was Monday, walking all 18 holes at Bunker Hill to lend his quiet support.

"He's just my biggest supporter," she said. "He's always coming to meets. I don't mind him coming to watch. Some people can't deal with it (having parents on the course), but I like it.

"He pushes me really hard and makes me practice. It's good that we can actually go out and practice together. And we always take road trips for golf. It's just a fun thing to do."

Furnish got off to a slow start Monday with two bogeys and a double-bogey on the first three holes, but didn't let it ruin her day. "I tried not to think abut that, because there were a lot of holes left," she said. "I tried to forget about it, because I knew there were more birdie holes out there."

Furnish had a strong stretch on the 12th through 18th holes with a string of straight 220-yard drives, good chip shots and effective putting. She missed a series of 8, 10 and 12-foot putts for birdies, but left herself with short tap-ins for pars to keep moving forward.

She caught a break on the 181-yard 12th hole when her drive bounced on the asphalt golf path and took a fortuitous hop onto the green, where she two-putted for a birdie.

The district golf meet will be held May 21 at the Ottumwa Country Club, followed by the state meet May 29-30 at Otter Creek Golf Course in Ankeny.

MVC VALLEY DIVISION MEET
At Bunker Hill
4,318 yards, Par 69

NOTE: Final 36-hole results are combined from MVC Super Meet at Ellis Park April 30 and MVC Valley Division Meet at Bunker Hill May 7.

Team Standings

1. Cedar Falls 650, 2. Xavier 721, 3. Iowa City West 768, 4. Jefferson 801, 5. Prairie 814, 6. Dubuque Hempstead 820, 7. Waterloo East (incomplete).

Top 12 Individuals

First Team All-Valley

1. Megan Furnish, Jefferson         72-75--147
2. Alison Rolinger, Cedar Falls       79-75--154
3. Maddie Bertsch, Xavier            81-80--161
4. Taylor Roberts, Cedar Falls       82-81--163
5. Megan Brewer, Cedar Falls       85-79--164
6. Hannah Hagarty, Cedar Falls     86-83--169

Second Team All-Valley

7.  Grace Winker, Xavier              79-92--171
8.  Tiffany Danger, IC West         91-90--181
9.  Abby Rolinger, Cedar Falls       93-89--182
10. Olivia Ewing, IC West            97-90--187
11. Shannon Moody, Cedar Falls   97-94--191
12. Taylor Wertzberger, Xavier   105-89--194

Athlete of the Year -- Megan Furnish, Jefferson

XAVIER (721): Maddie Bertsch 81-80--161, Grace Winker 79-92--171, Taylor Wertzberger 105-89--194,   Lisa Olberding 101-102--203, Morgan DeLong 104-107--211, Kara Zwanziger 108--DNP, Hailey Sojka DNP-95.

JEFFERSON (801): Megan Furnish 72-75--147, Emily Aukes 112-102--214, Marisa Fehlhafer 111-104--215,   Megan Kibby 109-120--229, Sammy Seeman DNP-116, Sarah Tortora 135-DNP, Erin Kibby 141-DNP.

PRAIRIE (814): Emily Perrin 101-99--200, Kerstin Flugum 107-95--202, Konnor Griffith 100-104--204,   Emily Machula 99-109--208, Alissa Beisker 111-109--220, Jenna Niccolls
118-DNP, Sammie Farmer DNP-131.

Furnish fires 40 at Hunters Ridge

Cedar Rapids Jefferson senior Megan Furnish shot a 4-over-par 40 at Hunters Ridge Thursday to claim medalist honors in a dual meet with Linn-Mar.

Julie Pople led Linn-Mar with a 45.

Jefferson did not enter a full team in the meet. Linn-Mar finished with a four-girl total of 187.

LINN-MAR (187): Julie Pople 45, CJ Davis 46, Lauren Coughlin 46, Rachel Thrune 50.

JEFFERSON: Megan Furnish 40, Megan Kibby 67.

Furnish wins MVC Super Meet at Ellis Park

Monday was a good day at Ellis Park Golf Course for geese, baby goslings and Megan Furnish.

The geese and their goslings acted like the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet was being held for their benefit as they waddled near the ponds and marched onto the course.

Meanwhile, Furnish owned Ellis Park and fired an even-par 72 on the soggy 4,787-yard layout to trim Amy Ihm of Dubuque Wahlert by one shot.

Furnish has been winning meets this spring, but she hadn't been satisfied with all her shots. That changed Monday as the Cedar Rapids Jefferson senior was solid from tee to green.

"I was kind of unhappy with my overall game. There were some areas that were struggling, but today I think it all kind of came together and I felt confident in every area of the game," she said.

"My short game was kind of struggling. My putting ... my 50, 60, 70-yard approach shots. So I've been really practicing hard on those and having drills to work on those areas, so those came together nice."

Furnish, who will play college golf next year at Missouri State, collected two birdies, 14 pars and two bogies.

Furnish tied for first place at the Linn-Mar Invitational last week with an 82 at Hunters Ridge and won the CRANDIC meet at Airport National with a 73 two weeks ago, but she wasn't happy with either of those rounds.

Her even-par 72 Monday was the best score of her life at Ellis Park and came on a cool, gray day with a few puddles on the course from Sunday's rain.

"It gives me a little more confidence, but I can't stop working," she said. "I've got to be out there practicing and making sure my game is up to par."

All 14 Mississippi Valley Conference teams played in the Super Meet. Cedar Falls, the defending state champion, continued to dominate MVC competition and won the meet with a four-player score of 332 for an impressive 30-shot victory over Linn-Mar.

The Xavier Saints got strong rounds from Grace Winker and Maddie Bertsch and finished third in the team standings at 365. Winker fired a 7-over-par 79 to tie for third place in the individual standings and Bertsch shot an 81 to place fifth.

Ali Lindo of Kennedy, bothered by a knee injury, limped home with an 88 to tie Julie Pople of Linn-Mar for 10th place.

The Super Meet counts as 50 percent toward the overall MVC conference title this season. The final round will be played next Monday.

MVC SUPER MEET
At Ellis Park
4,787 yards, Par 72

Team Standings

1. Cedar Falls 332, 2. Linn-Mar 362, 3. Xavier 365, 4. Dubuque Senior 367, 5. Wahlert 381, 6. Iowa City City 388, 7. Iowa City West 391, 8. Jefferson 404, 9. Prairie 407, 10. Kennedy 412, 11. Hempstead 414, 12. Waterloo West 423, 13. Washington 438, 14. Waterloo East (incomplete team).

Top 10 Individuals

1. Megan Furnish, Jefferson       72
2. Amy Ihm, Wahlert                73
3. Grace Winker, Xavier             79
Alison Rolinger, Cedar Falls      79
5. Maddie Bertsch, Xavier          81
6. Taylor Roberts, Cedar Falls     82
7. Megan Brewer, Cedar Falls     85
8. MJ Kamin, Washington          86
Hannah Hagarty, Cedar Falls    86
10. Ali Lindo, Kennedy              88
Julie Pople, Linn-Mar             88

LINN-MAR: Julie Pople 88, Katie Harding 89, CJ Davis 92, Danielle Toy 93, Rachel Thrune 95, Emma Lorenz 100.

XAVIER: Grace Winker 79, Maddie Bertsch 81, Lisa Olberding 101, Morgan DeLong 104, Taylor Wertzberger 105, Kara Zwanzinger 108.

JEFFERSON: Megan Furnish 72, Megan Kibby 109, Marissa Fehlhafer 111, Emily Aukes 112, Sarah Tortora 135, Erin Kibby 141.

PRAIRIE: Emily Machula 99, Konnor Griffith 100, Emily Perrin 101, Kerstin Flugum 107, Alyssa Beisker 111, Jenna Nicolls 118.

KENNEDY: Ali Lindo 88, Sadie Schultz 106, Hannah Harberts 108, Raemi Chavez 110, Amanda Wiedemeier 126, Breanna Osterkamp 132.

WASHINGTON: MJ Kamin 86, Kandis O'Donnell 101, Sophia Ochs 125, Elizabeth Stanczyk 126, Katherine Wohlers 140, Hannah Bott 150.