Marshalltown girls’ golf team misses out on opportunity to qualify for state
This wasn’t the way it was supposed to end for this group, but golf can be an unforgiving sport.
The Marshalltown girls’ golf team had a bad day at the wrong time and the Bobcats were denied state qualification, settling for third place at Wednesday’s Class 4A Region 3 meet at Elmwood Country Club.
Bobcat senior Natalie Henson earned her place at state for the fourth year in a row by winning medalist honors with an even-par round of 70, but she’ll go to state without a teammate for the first time.
Marshalltown finished in with a 353 team score, trailing Waukee Northwest (334) and Indianola (343) in the 10-team tournament. Only the top two teams and top six individuals qualify for next week’s state meet at Pleasant Valley Golf Course in Iowa City.
Henson, who has finished 22nd, ninth and fourth in her three previous state meet appearances, was hoping to have her team with her.
“I’m looking forward to trying to play my best game and just enjoy it,” Henson said. “It’s my last one, which is bittersweet, but I feel like I’ve been a Bobcat for so long. It’s hard because I always imagined my last one being with the team.”
Marshalltown’s 353 team total was its second-highest of the season. Indianola, meanwhile, had its best 18-hole total at just the right time to intercept the Bobcats’ shot at getting back to state.
“Full credit goes to Indianola, they played one of their best rounds of the season and their girls held it together down the stretch,” said MHS head coach Lucas Johnson. “I thought our girls did a really good job of staying patient, but we had some bad breaks that cost us down the stretch.
“We had everything in front of us but we knew it would be tough.”
Waukee Northwest had four scores of the top seven, led by runner-up Adalyn Wiig’s 80. Kendall Curran and Hannah Kenkel shot 84, and Lola Minnick added an 86 for the Wolves.
Indianola’s consistent scoring was paced by Camryn Overton’s 80. Amelia Moorlach and Alexa Inman both shot 87, and Reese Lucas had an 89 to help the Indians advance.
Henson’s 70 was followed by fellow senior Gaby Estabrook and freshman Morgan Hilderbrand, who both shot 92. Emma Clawson, a sophomore, shot 99 to round out the Bobcats’ scoring efforts.
Sophomore Hanna Osgood shot a 106, while junior Harper Wilson was disqualified for signing a scorecard with a lower score than she shot.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Johnson said. “She signed for a four on the card and she’d taken a six, and with that discrepancy you have to take a DQ. It’s a learning situation for her.
“It wouldn’t have changed the outcome at all.”
Marshalltown, which placed 10th at state as a team last season and third in 2022, was one of the top teams in 4A all spring and a favorite to return to state, especially from its home course.
Elmwood and the elements were unforgiving.
“You can’t really wake up thinking birdies, birdies, birdies, you’ve got to take what golf gives you and take it one shot at a time and not get ahead of yourself,” said Henson, a University of Nebraska Omaha commit. “It’s not going to be like it is on TV, you’re not going to get a birdie look every single hole. You’re gonna hit bad shots and it’s how you come back from it.”
Henson took her own advice a time or two on Wednesday. She scalded her approach shot from 50 yards out on the par-4 eighth hole and settled for a bogey, but birdied the ninth for an even-par 35 on the front nine.
She put together five-straight pars on the back nine thanks to her ability to get up and down around the green. On the par-3 12th hole, she pulled her tee shot over the adjacent cart path, but her pitch landed in just the right spot, allowing her ball to trickle onto the green and to within two feet of a tap-in par.
“That was the best up-and-down of my life,” she said.
Her tee shot on the par-4 14th hit a tree off the right side of the fairway, but she hit her approach across the creek and into the hill in front of the green. She pitched close enough to sink her par putt, again scrambling up a save.
She sank long birdie putts on 15 and 16 to get to 2-under for the round, but that was erased by back-to-back bunker shots below the 18th green and a double-bogey.
Her frustration turned to heartbreak as the final scores were posted at the clubhouse.
“When I saw (the scores) my heart dropped,” Henson said. “It’s really sad, especially because me and Gaby have been playing on the same team since we were so young. We have been building this team up and now it’s done.
“I love this team and I wish they could keep going, it’s just not the plan God had. We didn’t really mentally prepare to lose either, so we weren’t expecting to not go on as a team.”
Estabrook also was a three-time qualifier entering Wednesday’s regional final, but she was unable to advance in her last event as a Bobcat.
“This was a special group of kids and they had a great season overall, so it’s bittersweet to end it on a day like today,” said Johnson. “I’m super happy for Natalie with the way she played, but teamwise I don’t think any of us were fully prepared to end it today. My heart goes out to them.
“They’ve been such a great group because they were kids that kind of bought in even in the middle school program. … We knew this was going to be a fun group to coach and they definitely were. Gaby had been to three state tournaments and I know she really wanted to make a fourth one, but that’s sports. That’s what happens when you put yourself out there, but I’m really proud of the way they conducted themselves and represented this team.”
Class 4A Region 3 Final
At Marshalltown
Elmwood Country Club, par 70
Team Standings — 1. Waukee Northwest 334, 2. Indianola 343, 3. Marshalltown 353, 4. Ankeny Centennial 388, 5. Ankeny 403, 6. Muscatine 416, 7. Iowa City High 444, 8. Fort Dodge 457, 9. Urbandale 517.
Individual (top 10) — 1. Natalie Henson, MHS, 70; 2. Adalyn Wiig, WNW, 80; 3. Camryn Overton, IND, 80; 4. Rylee Brockhouse, MUSC, 84; 5. Kendall Curran, WNW, 84; 6. Hannah Kenkel, WNW, 84; 7. Lola Minnick, WNW, 86; 8. Kate Geiselhart, AC, 86; 9. Amelia Moorlach, IND, 87; 10. Alexa Inman, IND, 87.
WAUKEE NORTHWEST (334) — Wiig 80, Kenkel 84, Curran 84, Minnick 86, Piper Sandfort 94, Sasha Sundet 98.
INDIANOLA (343) — Overton 80, Moorlach 87, Inman 87, Reese Lucas 89, Anna Blanchard 95, Addison Tarkington 125.
MARSHALLTOWN (353) — Henson 70, Gaby Estabrook 92, Morgan Hilderbrand 92, Emma Clawson 99, Hanna Osgood 106, Harper Wilson DQ.
ANKENY CENTENNIAL (388) — Geiselhart 86, Danika Kraus 94, Cate Trewet 103, Lauren Wilford 105, Kaylee Sprecher 108, Teagan Skinner 111.
ANKENY (403) — Isabella Ross 92, Madalyn Ross 98, Aubree Moeller 105, Catherine Nelson 108, Ava Sesker 113, Ava Clarkson 115.
MUSCATINE (416) — Brockhouse 84, Anna Boyer 110, Lexie Eaton 110, Ayla Burback 112, Era Boyer 117, Myla Halloran 121.
IOWA CITY HIGH (444) — Emory Anzelc 95, Kacy Khongmaly 105, Maya Hoffman 122, Louisa Berry-Stoelzle 122, Tess Anzelc 123, Hadassah Wolcott 128.
FORT DODGE (457) — Braxton Dencklau 97, Emma Lloyd 104, Alani Crouse 121, Brielle Crouch 135, Gracie Harvey 154.
URBANDALE (517) — Brookelyn Hartman 106, Sydney Hasson 120, KaiLan Baccam 133, Claire Legler 158, Ella Fron DNF.
DM LINCOLN — Clemence Umutoni 122, Audrey Helm 145, Dina Assa 148.
