With fourth place finish, men’s golf team earns highest state showing in CF history

Luke Meyer tied for 59th for the golf team. Alltogether, the team placed fourth at the state tournament on Friday, Oct. 5 at the Brown Deer Golf Club.

The men’s gold team finished 4th overall, the best finish in school history, at Brown Deer Golf Club on Friday, Oct. 5.  

The 2nd round of the tournament was cancelled to to inclement weather, much to the team’s disappointment. Coach Kenton Engels said he thought the boys had a good chance to come back in the bad weather. “I thought we were really well poised to handle the bad weather, and I thought that would actually suit us rather than hurt us. It felt like the legs were just cut out from us when we learned that we weren’t going to be able to compete on the second day.”

Senior Ben Bermel also said he thought the team could pull through the harsh conditions.

“I think that our team had a really good chance to make a nice comeback in the bad weather on Saturday. I know as a team we were upset. There was not much to say other than we had a great season and that wasn’t a fun way to end it.”

Even though the team didn’t finish the season how it hoped to, the season was filled with high points. The Tigers finished first in the conference in the regular season and placed the best out of any CFHS men’s golf team in history at State.  

The team doesn’t want to stop just yet though. Sophomore Luke Meyer said he plans to keep himself motivated for next season.

“I want to get higher than fourth and push our team to the limit. I have my fourth place medal hung up in my room, so I see it every day, and it just provides motivation for me to want to get better.”

The men did not get to where they are without putting in the work. Coach Engels said, “Their work ethic far surpassed any expectations I had as a young head coach. This is my second year being a head coach, and even though I’ve been with the team for years, I was always impressed with this team that when practice was over, people on the varsity team would go out and play more, get instruction or hit more golf balls. That to me is made this team special.”

Engels said maintaining a positive mentality is a big key in staying focused throughout the entire season. With the unfavorable weather, it was hard a times for the team, but Engels used little things to keep the team’s morale high.

“Gimmicks would be the best word I can use to describe the types of things myself and Coach [Rich] Strike tried to talk about with the team throughout the season. On one course that the boys didn’t like, I made each of the boys tell me that they loved the course, and it helped get them out of a negative mindset.  It’s just getting your mind right from the beginning that you’re still going to do your best no matter what the conditions are.”  

The Tigers shot 303 as a team, with Waukee (289), Pleasant Valley (296), and Johnston (302) finishing first, second and third respectively.

Bermel tied for 11th (72), junior Jack Moody tied for 27th (76), senior Trevor Heinen tied for 32nd (77), senior Joe Dean tied for 39th (78), Meyer tied for 59th (83), and Yang tied for 68th (86).