Fast start fuels ’Cats to 4th

The Bobcats shot a 312 total to squeak past Ankeny Centennial for the fourth spot. Norwalk was the team champion at 290 followed by Southeast Polk with a 292 and Dallas Center-Grimes shooting 303 for third.

“On paper, we’ve got four or five state-qualifying caliber teams here today, so for us to be in the mix is a solid day,” MHS coach Lucas Johnson said. “We gave some shots away down the stretch that we would’ve liked back, but the guys battled and we just got off to a really hot start.”

Ty Faltys and Joe Greazel earned Joe August flags as top 17 individuals today; Faltys finished sixth with a 3-over 73 and Greazel placed 14th shooting a 76.

Faltys shot two-under on the front nine with four birdies and two bogeys.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – Marshalltown senior Eli Polley tees off on the 17th hole at Elmwood Country Club during Thursday’s Joe August Invitational.

“There were a couple more birdies I could have made,” Faltys said. “All of my irons were really striking, swing felt good.”

Faltys started bogey-bogey-birdie to start the back nine but was still at under par until a bogey on No. 15 followed by a triple bogey on the par-3 No. 16 where the senior landed in the bunker on the left side of the pin and couldn’t find his way to the cup until his round had taken a hit. He recovered for back-to-back pars but fell back from the lead pack, including eventual champion Noah Moberg of Dallas Center-Grimes carding a 1-under 69.

“Just struggled with my short game,” Faltys said. “I still feel pretty good, I had a good start to the season and then have had my ups and downs since so it feels good to just get back to top 10.”

Johnson added: “He got into that bunker on 16 and got into a rough spot — Elmwood will do that to even the best of players. He got off to a fantastic start today and he can be really proud of the way he played in his final Joe August Invite as a senior, that’s how you want to go out.”

Greazel only made one birdie on the par-5 No. 13 but was consistent outside of double bogeys on No. 7 and No. 14, making 12 pars in total and posting his second round of 76 this week after putting up the same score at Veenker in Ames.

“He’s been really steady for us,” Johnson said. “For a freshman to be doing that just shows the sky is the limit for him.”

Marshalltown was nine strokes ahead of the closest Alliance competition in Ottumwa, sixth with a 321.

Eli Polley and Jacob Seberger added counting scores for Marshalltown with a 79 and 84, respectively. Parker Christen and Adam Boone chipped in an 86 and 87 for non-counting scores.

“This week was two of the toughest courses the guys will see all year, and we’re back to playing a lot of competitive golf here again after having a little bit of a break,” Johnson said. “We’ve also added a Valley Invite at Willow Creek to our schedule for next week, so that’ll be great for the guys to see the course that they’ll play to try and qualify for state.”

It will be the start of three rounds of golf in three days for the Bobcats; the Valley Invite is on Monday, followed by a home dual back at Elmwood with Mason City on Tuesday and a Southeast Polk Invite at Copper Creek in Pleasant Hill on Wednesday.

Joe August Invitational

Elmwood Country Club, par 70

Team Standings — 1. Norwalk 290, 2. Southeast Polk 292, 3. Dallas Center-Grimes 303, 4. Marshalltown 312, 5. Ankeny Centennial 313, 6. Ottumwa 321, 7. Indianola 321, 8. Mason City 331, 9. Ames 334, 10. Des Moines Roosevelt 335, 11. Fort Dodge 339, 12. Urbandale 359, 13. Marshalltown JV 374, 14. Des Moines East 472.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Noah Moberg, DCG, 69; 2. Ian Lux, NOR, 70; 3. Grady Sigrist, NOR, 71; 4. Ty Potter, SEP, 71; 5. Carter Pearson, SEP, 73; 6. Ty Faltys, MHS, 73; 7. Evan Flynn, SEP, 73; 8. Jackson Buchanan, IND, 74; 9. Tillman Papcun, NOR, 74; 10. Carter Mulcahy, SEP, 75.

NORWALK (290) — Lux 70, Sigrist 71, Papcun 74, Kaleb Foltz 75, Mason Johnson 76, Dayton Poen 84.

SOUTHEAST POLK (292) — Potter 71, Pearson 73, Flynn 73, Mulcahy 75, Cooper Patterson 79, Caleb Shortell 83.

DALLAS CENTER-GRIMES (303) — Moberg 69, Chase Perrin 77, Jackson Zeller 78, Gavin Drake 79, Avery Van Zelderen 86, Parker Ellingboe 87.

MARSHALLTOWN (312) — Faltys 73, Joe Greazel 76, Eli Polley 79, Jacob Seberger 84, Parker Christen 86, Adam Boone 87.

ANKENY CENTENNIAL (313) — Tiernan Logan 76, McCoy Miller 77, Charlie Morrissey 78, Nathan Boehlert 82, Jett Lovahn 82, Preston Zinn 86.

OTTUMWA (321) — Stephen Brinegar 78, Chase Thompson 80, Logan Storto 80, Milo Canny 83, Gavin Monaghan 86, Tate Harness 86.

INDIANOLA (321) — Buchanan 74, Tyler Santi 78, Ryker Burgin 83, Hayden Stockberger 86, Gio Richardson 90, Daltry Tupper 102.

MASON CITY (331) — Michael Solberg-Maas 80, Will Schissel 81, Nathan Barkley 84, Noah Honn 86, Parker Page 91, Vance Anderson 93.

AMES (334) — Jackson Kepley 79, Bowen Flemming 82, Oliver Fields 83, Landyn Lohman 90, Riley Becker 98, Daniel Murphy 105.

DM ROOSEVELT (335) — Evan Kohlsdorf 81, Tony Song 82, Brooks Arnold 85, Harrison Elliott 87, Sawyer Evans 87, Finley Newman 91.

FORT DODGE (339) — Jaxson Dencklau 82, Davis Underberg 83, Mason Frevert 87, Bo Marsh 87, Gavin Davis 97, Trace Rial 99.

URBANDALE (349) — Cole Schott 80, Charles Malone 90, Colin Corcoran 92, Ian King 97, Aiden Corcoran 99, Dayne Rew 110.

MARSHALLTOWN JV (374) — Gavin Misek 92, Korben McKibben 93, Bryson Payne 94, Carter Bell 95, Tayven Dutton 104, Trae Misek 107.

DM EAST (472) — Keegan Beattie 109, Devin Audsley 112, Dylan Housley 123, Arun Handley 128, Eddie Hamann 132, Rich Hoang 158.