Washington Boys Golf

Lions eye title with Kahler as coach

The Linn-Mar Lions will be aiming to win the boys state golf title Saturday at Elmcrest Country Club with Hall of Fame coach Steve Kahler by their side.

The Lions found themselves tied for third place Friday after the first round of the 36-hole tournament, just six strokes behind Waukee heading into the final round.

Kahler, who coached the Linn-Mar boys golf team from 1985 through 2012 before retiring as a teacher and coach, is back at the helm of the Lions as one of their acting head coaches in place of Bill Hoefle, who apparently was relieved of his duties a few weeks ago.

Linn-Mar Athletic Director Scott Mahmens declined comment Friday on why Hoefle is no longer coaching the team. Hoefle did not answer his cell phone Friday afternoon.

Max Thrune fired a 4-over-par 74 to lead the Lions and Jake Sevcik was right behind with a 75.

Read more...

Neighbors leads Wash to district title

Connor Neighbors will be one of the youngest golfers at the state tournament this weekend at Elmcrest Country Club, but that's perfectly OK with him.

The freshman from Cedar Rapids Washington is accustomed to being one of the youngest kids on the course.

"I probably started when I was 3," the soft-spoken ninth grader said Tuesday, "and I probably took it seriously when I was about 8. I started playing in tournaments at that age.

"It took me awhile to get going," he said, "but I enjoy it a lot now."

Neighbors fired a 2-over-par 73 and led Washington to the district title Tuesday at the Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City. The next step for Neighbors and the Warriors will be the state tournament on their "home" course at Elmcrest on Friday and Saturday.

Five of the six golfers on the Washington team -- including Neighbors -- are members of Elmcrest and know all the nooks and crannies.

"That's my home course. I play there a lot," Neighbors said. "It's a good course.

"I'm sure the greens are going to be very fast. They will be really tough. It's not super-long, so that will be good for me because I'm not a huge hitter."

Read more...

Wash golfers win on super-tiebreaker

WATERLOO - Alex Slattery shared medalist honors with a 36 Thursday to help the Washington Warriors win a Mississippi Valley Conference quadrangular meet at the Irv Warren course in Waterloo, but the victory went much deeper than that.

Washington and Cedar Falls tied for first place with team scores of 148 for their top four golfers, which is the normal system for determining a high school meet. They went to the first tiebreaker, but the fifth-place golfer for both teams both shot 39s. Then they looked at the sixth-place finisher for both squads and declared Washington the winner on the basis of a 40 by Logan Bracey, compared to a 41 for Cedar Falls.

Frank Lindwall and Joe Slattery fired 37s for the Warriors. Connor Neighbors had a 38.

Read more...

Lindwall, Warriors wear Mississippi crown

WATERLOO - Frank Lindwall and the Washington Warriors wrapped up Mississippi Division golf titles at Gates Park in Waterloo Monday.

Lindwall claimed medalist honors with a 54-hole score of 227 with solid rounds of 77, 76 and 74 on three different courses on three different days. Washington captured the 2015 division crown by 22 shots over Xavier, 911 to 933.

Lindwall also submitted the low round Monday with a 74 at Gates Park.

Alex Slattery and Logan Bracey of Washington tied for second place in the 54-hole standings at 232. Sam Martin of Xavier also shared second place with a 232.

Mitch King and Luke Winker of Xavier finished fifth and sixth.

54-HOLE TEAM STANDINGS

1. Washington 911, 2. Xavier 933, 3. Prairie 973, 4. Iowa City High 1066, 5. Waterloo West 1082, 6. Dubuque Hempstead 1088, 7. Waterloo East (incomplete).

54-HOLE INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
Top 6

1.  Frank Lindwall, Washington    77-76-74=227
2.  Alex Slattery, Washington     75-77-80=232
Logan Bracey, Washington      75-79-78=232
Sam Martin, Xavier            78-78-76=232
5.  Mitch King, Xavier            84-74-76=234
6.  Luke Winker, Xavier           77-79-79=235

WASHINGTON - Frank Lindwall 77-76-74=227, Alex Slattery 75-77-80=232, Logan Bracey 75-79-78=232, Jabe Gonder 71-89-80=240, Connor Neighbors 83-78-79=240.

XAVIER - Sam Martin 78-78-76=232, Mitch King 84-74-76=234, Luke Winker 77-79-79=235, Tyler Breitbach 77-82-81=240, Matt Neumeyer 79-81-81=241, Brody Robinson 80-79-85=244.

PRAIRIE - Cal Clark 81-83-78=242, Cooper Reittinger 79-86-79=244, Griffen Clark 79-90-83=252, Matt Lorenz 88-83-82=253.

MONDAY'S TEAM STANDINGS

1. Washington 311, 2. Xavier 312, 3. Prairie 314, 4. Waterloo West 354, 5. Iowa City High 365, 6. Dubuque Hempstead 377, 7. Waterloo East 429.

MONDAY'S MEDALIST - Frank Lindwall, Washington, 74