Sunny skies and temperatures that rose quickly once play started greeted the five teams competing Saturday in the 18-hole Jayette Invitational at the Perry Golf and Country Club.
Dowling Catholic won the meet going away with a combined team score of 335, with Humboldt the runner-up at 379. Norwalk fired a 411 and Perry a 543, with North Polk not posting a team score as the Comets brought only three golfers (four are required for a team total) to the links. South Hamilton was scheduled to compete, but had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict.
There are two areas hampering the Jayettes in the early going of the season, head coach Joel Happel said, and those issues go hand-in-hand.
“We are experiencing growing pains,” he explained. ” I am putting some young kids into varsity competition pretty quickly this spring. They are handling things well but it is going to take some time.”
Happel stressed that patience would be critical for the Perry girls, as the best solution to inexperience would be time spent in practice and competition.
“Sarah Sweet showed some signs of playing the way she is capable,” the coach said. “We added Laurann Perry to the competition today. She is a senior and has been showing improvement on the range, but now we will have to focus on the short game.”
Sweet led the hosts with a 64-59–123, with Perry carding a 70-63–133 while Hannah Roberts provided a 73-68–141 and Skylar Cunningham a 74-72–146. Sweet is a sophomore, with Roberts and Cunningham freshmen. A 74-76–150 card from frosh Caley Hager was not used toward the Perry team total.
Dowling Catholic’s Allison Olberding won top medalist honors with a strong round of 43-34–77, with fellow Maroon Anne Gradoville second with a 44-39–83. Humboldt’s Savannah Schnetzer (42-42–84) and Brooke Anderson (46-41–87) and Dowling’s Erica Olberding (46-41–87) completed the top five individual scores.
Perry returns to action Tuesday when they travel to Carlisle to play the host Wildcats and Bondurant-Farrar in a Raccoon River Conference triangular. The event will be co-ed, with the boys teams from all three schools also teeing it up.
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JAYETTE INVITATIONAL
at Perry Golf and Country Club, April 11
Team Standings — 1.) Dowling Catholic, 335; 2.) Humboldt, 379; 3.) Norwalk, 411; 4.) Perry, 543.
Top Five Individuals — 1.) A. Olberding, DC, 43-34–77; 2.) Gradoville, DC, 44-39–83; 3.) Schnetzer, HMB, 42-42–84; 4.) Anderson, HMB, 46-41–87; 5.) E. Olberding, DC, 46-41–87.
Team Scoring
(Lowest four scores used for team total)
DC (335) — A. Olberding 43-34–77; Gradoville 44-39–83; E. Olberding 46-41–87; Toresdahl 46-42–88; Dryer 51-56–107; Moylan 69-64–133.
HMB (379) — Schnetzer 42-42–84; Anderson 46-41–87; Birdsell 52-51–103; Howard 50-55–105; George 54-52–106; Kramer 54-53–107.
NOR (411) — Individual scores n/a
PRY (543) — Sweet 64-59–123; Perry 70-63–133; Roberts 73-68–141; Cunningham 74-72–146; Hager 74-76–150.
