OTTUMWA —
Bulldog head coach Scott Maas had a red pen ready to mark down any under par scores at Tuesday’s Ottumwa Invitational.
The Bulldog head boys golf coach only needed to pull it out once. That was to mark down a score that stood out on the Ottumwa Country Club leaderboard.
Matthew Walker got plenty of praise when a long afternoon of golf had concluded with a round that won both the individual and team titles for the host of the tournament. A five-under-par 67 gave Walker the meet medalist honor by five shots over Dowling Catholic’s Sam DaBartolo and pushed the Bulldogs to the team crown over Waukee by seven as Ottumwa was the only squad to break 300 on the tough Country Club course.
For Walker, a hot day with the flat stick seemed to make the entire difference.
“I actually made a couple putts for a change,” Walker joked after his impressive day on the home course. “I just got the putter going early, made some good shots throughout the round and kept it going.”
If not for a few bogeys on the card, Walker could have been knocking on the door of a record-breaking round in the low 60s. Walker overcame a second-hole bogey with birdies on the first and third holes and got his score to six-under with consecutive birdies on 16 and 17 that followed a dropped shot on the 15th hole.
If not for a slippery downhill putt that forced Walker into a bogey on the 18th, Walker would have fired an even more impressive 66. That last dropped shot, like the others throughout the day, was the last thing on the sophomore’s mind.
“There are more holes out there. It’s not the worst thing in the world,” Walker said of his mindset following a dropped shot. “I just kept plucking away. The next shot was a new thing.”
“Good players are mentally tough, and he’s a good player who is as mentally tough they come,” Maas said of Walker. “He can make a bad shot and make bad score on one hole and come right back with a birdie on the next hole. He’s as tough as they come.”
Walker’s round of 67 beat out Waukee’s top round, which was shared by Grant Campbell and Mike Woofter, of 74 to make the seven-shot difference in the team scoring. Joe Wetrich’s third-place round of 73 and Hoyt Grooms’ top-10 score of 75 helped Maas’s squad keep the Warriors from being able to catch the Bulldogs at the top of team leaderboard.
“We have a little bit of an advantage of playing on our home course, but I know my guys feel like they can play with anybody on any given day,” Maas said. “We’re definitely happy to get this win.”
Maas talked about the improved play of his team around the greens something that will figure to play a big role in the level of success the Ottumwa boys golf team will have this fall.
“I saw a lot of guys being able to get the ball close if they were just off the green and I didn’t see a lot of three-putts throughout the day from anybody,” Maas said. “Whether it’s early in the round or later in the round, you’ve got to pick up shots near the green and add them all up when the round is over.”
The Ottumwa ‘white’ squad finished seventh with a round of 351, led by Dillon Patritto’s score of 83. The Bulldogs will return to their other home course for a dual meet at Cedar Creek Thursday against Indianola, who finished fifth on Tuesday at the Country Club with a round of 337.
Walker is hoping he and his Bulldog teammates can keep their play red-hot as the temperatures cool down with fall approaching.
“Hopefully if the putts keep dropping, we’ll keep our confidence up,” Walker said. “Should be some more low numbers coming. Might as well keep marking it red.”
Ottumwa Invitational
At Ottumwa Country Club
9/4/12
Par 72
Team scoring — 1. Ottumwa ‘red’ 296, 2. Waukee 303, 3. Dowling Catholic 307, 4. Des Moines Roosevelt 330, 5. Indianola 337, 6. Newton 342, 7. Ottumwa ‘white’ 351, 8. Marshalltown 374, 9. Des Moines East 382, 10. Des Moines Lincoln 395.
Medalist — Matthew Walker (Ottumwa) 67.
Runner-up — Sam DaBartolo (Dowling Catholic) 72.
Top Ten individuals — 1. Walker (O) 67, 2. DaBartolo (DC) 72, 3. Joe Wetrich (O) 73, 4. Austin Shores (Newton) 73, 5. Grant Campbell (Waukee) 74, 6. Mike Woofter (W) 75, T7. Hoyt Grooms (O) 75, T7. Devin Shores (N) 75, 9. Jack Gradoville (DC) 76, 10. Parker Howe (W) 77.
Ottumwa red individuals — Walker 67, Wetrich 73, Grooms 75, Braxton Coble 81, Brandon Lein 84, Jacob Gardner 88.
Ottumwa white individuals — Dillon Patritto 83, Ian Kubble 88, Anthony Roberts 88, Gavin Dostal 92, Jack Hardie 94, Jacob Bjerke 102.
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September 5, 2012
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