<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3pvqqK_0vkbigtn00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3pvqqK_0vkbigtn00" width="2048" height="1394" ><figcaption>Ankeny’s Evan Hodapp places his ball during the Jesse Peck Invitational on Aug. 19 at Briarwood Golf Club. Hodapp carded a 72 to place ninth in the Southeast Polk Invitational on Wednesday at Copper Creek, where he helped the Hawks to a fourth-place finish. (Photo by Jerrad Downer)</figcaption></figure>As the boys’ high school golf season heads into the home stretch, Ankeny appears to be peaking at the right time.Ankeny Centennial, meanwhile, is still looking to reach its potential.Both teams competed in the Southeast Polk Invitational on Wednesday at Copper Creek Golf Club in Pleasant Hill. The 15th-ranked Hawks shot a 296 to place fourth in the 11-team field.“I thought it was a great day for our team,” said Ankeny coach Mike Weddingfeld. “The varsity placed fourth behind who I feel are two of the top teams in the state (Southeast Polk and Valley). The JV team was second and had a couple scores that would have counted varsity for us, and the varsity almost matched its best round of the season–which was a 295 at our home invite–so there’s nothing to complain about from my perspective.”No. 13 Ankeny Centennial posted a 303 total and finished seventh. No. 9 Norwalk also shot a 303, but won the tiebreaker for sixth place.“We’ve got a lot of guys trying their best, no question about it!” said Centennial coach Andrew Reedy. “We just have to find a way to limit the big numbers and finish our rounds. A couple of guys played their last three to four holes in 2- to 5-over-par.”No. 6 Southeast Polk and No. 1 Valley each shot a 285, but the Rams had a better fifth score and captured the team title on their home course. That prevented the Tigers from defending their crown.No. 7 Dowling Catholic placed third with a 294. The Maroons were led by Dewell Anderson, who carded a 7-under-par 29 on the back nine and earned medalist honors with a 3-under 68.Valley standout Braeden Nelson shot a 69 to earn runner-up honors for the second straight year–matching his score from a year ago. He was the medalist at the meet in 2022.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Great job today men! Varsity finishes 4th, JV 2nd, Weddingfeld 7th and Hodapp 9th. <a href="https://t.co/WEDks8IotN">pic.twitter.com/WEDks8IotN</a>— Ankeny Hawks Golf (@AnkenyHawksGolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnkenyHawksGolf/status/1839066084143436253?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 25, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>Ankeny’s Caden Weddingfeld placed seventh with a 71. Evan Hodapp was ninth with a 72.Duncan Beelner shot a 74 for the Hawks. Ryan Constable fired a 79, Sam Ortega had an 80, and Gavin Ross added an 81.“Caden and Duncan continue to play steady golf–I am very impressed with how they continue to shoot solid scores meet after meet,” Weddingfeld said. “Evan had a great round today getting back to where he wants to be shooting, and we have a couple other guys that are very close to getting down to that mid-70s range once they clean up a few mistakes during their rounds. I feel that our team is hitting its stride at the right time coming down to the most important part of the season. Our goal is to beat our best team score, and we know we can. We keep working hard each day at practice and feel that goal is within our reach.”Wednesday’s meet marked the seventh time this season that Ankeny’s crosstown rivals have played against each other. The two teams have traded victories all fall–with the Hawks now holding a 4-3 edge over Centennial in their head-to-head meetings.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=47bdPn_0vkbigtn00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=47bdPn_0vkbigtn00" width="2048" height="1360" ><figcaption>Ankeny Centennial’s McCoy Miller watches his putt during a triangular meet on Sept. 18 at Briarwood Golf Club. Miller shot a 70 to place fifth in the Southeast Polk Invitational on Wednesday at Copper Creek, where he led the Jaguars to a seventh-place finish. (Photo by Dan Holm)</figcaption></figure>McCoy Miller carded a 1-under-par 70 to place fifth for the Jaguars. He had three birdies on the back nine.“McCoy played really solid,” Reedy said. “He had no big numbers, a lot of easy pars, and just a couple of three-putts that stopped him from tying for medalist. He put in some work on his golf swing this past weekend, and it looks to have paid off.”Centennial’s Tiernan Logan shot a 77, while Charlie Morrissey, Nathan Boehlert and Jett Lovanh each had a 78. Jackson Lewis finished with an 80.“There are certainly positives, and we will cover those as well,” Reedy said. “But at this point in the season, there has to be some urgency to correct and acknowledgement of the things holding us back from our potential.”Both teams will now prepare for the CIML Conference meet, which will be held on Wednesday at Otter Creek. No. 2 Johnston is the two-time defending champion.“We have a week off before the tournament, and I think that is a good thing for my team,” Reedy said. “They will be rested and ready to compete to close out the season.”</div></body>

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Ankeny golfers place 4th at S.E. Polk Invite; Miller leads Jags to 7th-place finish

As the boys’ high school golf season heads into the home stretch, Ankeny appears to be peaking at the right time. Ankeny Centennial, meanwhile, is still looking to reach its potential. Both teams competed in the Southeast Polk Invitational on Wednesday at Copper Creek Golf Club in Pleasant Hill....