by OTTUMWA — The next time the Ottumwa Golf and Social Club hosts a high school tournament of this magnitude, trips to the state tournament will be on the line.
If Dallas Center-Grimes is among the teams sent to Ottumwa for the Class 4A qualifying tournament, Noah Moberg will certainly bring a lot of confidence back to Wapello County. Moberg made a charge over the final nine holes worthy of a memorable tournament victory Tuesday, posting a pair of eagles and a birdie for a 5-under-par finish over the final six holes, earning individual medalist honors at the Ottumwa Invitational by ultimately shooting the tournament’s only under-par round.
Moberg finished with a 1-under-par 71, edging Burlington native Tomas Rascon and Norwalk native Grady Sigrist by one shot in a thrilling battle to the finish with the team and individual titles on the line over the final nine holes. Rascon nearly matched Moberg’s score with a 71, narrowly missing a birdie putt from just over 10 feet off the left edge of the hole on the 18th green, moments after Moberg made what would have been his second birdie putt in three holes.
“I was able to get to the green on the 14th hole and make an eagle putt. That really got my putter going,” Moberg said. “I didn’t really miss a shot the rest of the way. My ball striking got a lot better after that first eagle. I didn’t miss a fairway or a green. It became pretty easy for me from there.”
Ottumwa senior Chase Thompson found himself battling Moberg all day. Playing in the same group as Rascon and Des Moines Roosevelt senior Tony Song, Thompson tied Moberg on the front nine with a round of 37, just one shot behind Rascon, Sigrist and Indianola senior Tyler Santi for the best front nine score of the tournament.
“Noah struggled on the front nine and it was kind of the same thing to start the back nine,” Thompson said. “He made a big save on the 11th hole. I think that’s what really gave him confidence. When he made that eagle putt on the 14th, it was light from there.”
A five-under-par final score ultimately gave Dallas Center-Grimes the team title at the Ottumwa Invitational. The Mustangs posted a team score of 296 with five golfers collecting one of the 18 flags awarded to the top 18 individuals in the tournament, edging Norwalk by just six strokes.
Indianola finished third in the tournament with a score of 311. Ottumwa placed fourth after a 12-day break from competition with a team score of 323, the second-lowest score of the season so far for the Bulldogs, with Thompson finishing sixth overall after posting a season-best score of 75.
“We had a long layoff, but a 323 is a good thing,” said Kyle Creamer, head coach of the Ottumwa boys golf team. “We challenged ourselves to shoot 320. It was a little tough with the breeze. The greens are really rolling right now. For three scores in the 80s, a 323 is pretty good.”
Stephen Brinegar narrowly missed out on collecting his own flag, finishing in a four-way tie for 17th with an 80, ultimately losing on a card to Dallas Center-Grimes sophomore Parker Ellingboe and Norwalk senior Kaleb Foltz for the final two spots in the top 18. Logan Storto posted an 82 for the Bulldogs while Gavin Monaghan helped clinch the tournament’s fourth seed with an 86, keeping the Bulldogs 14 shots ahead of Iowa Alliance South Division rival Des Moines Roosevelt less than two weeks after falling seven shots to the Roughriders in a conference dual.
“Stephen actually had a better round. He had a bad bounce on his last hole and hit a hole out of bounds. It ended up costing him about four shots,” Creamer said. “For some players, it’s a good reminder that it’s a long season. It’s hard work and there’s still a lot of work to do. I’m confident that some of these players that we’re counting on who had a little bit higher scores aren’t going to have those high scores for most of the season.”
Ottumwa’s junior team also produced a solid score with a round of 379. Roen Miller produced his best score of his first season of high school golf as the Bulldogs’ freshman tied Monaghan with a round of 86 to lead the Ottumwa JV while Ethan Reynolds posted a 92, the sixth-lowest overall score of all 16 Bulldog golfers who showed up Tuesday, finishing ahead of OHS varsity golfers Milo Canny and Tate Harness.
“Depth is something every team is looking for,” Creamer said. “We talked to the guys in those 5-10 spots and let them know it would be a good opportunity. Everyone had to play the same course. It was a great opportunity to challenge themselves. Gavin and Roen really took a step forward with rounds of 86. We can use those types of scores in the future. Hopefully they continue to go deeper.”
Ottumwa Golf and Social Club will host a Class 4A state qualifying meet on Oct. 7. Only Norwalk, which will host one of the other four state qualifying tournaments, is guaranteed not to return to Ottumwa to compete for a state berth later this season.
“We don’t know exactly who’s going to be here, but we could see a lot of those same teams here next month,” Creamer said. “If you take away Norwalk, we finished third in that tournament. That’s where you have to be to have a chance at state. We just wanted to play for ourselves and see what we can do. For us, 323 is the average. We think we can get down to around 315, which would put us in the race with Indianola.”
“We still have a lot of golf to play before we get back here in a few weeks. We’ll see where we are.”
Next up for Ottumwa is a trip to Flint Hills Golf Course in Burlington for a matchup with the Grayhounds. The game kicks off Monday afternoon at 1 p.m.
