Teams prepare for the 2024 Iowa high school fall boys’ golf postseason

The Class 4A Iowa high school boys’ golf postseason will begin in less than two weeks.

The paths to the fall state tournament are set.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released the district assignments for Class 4A programs last week. Three meets will consist of 14 teams and one with 15 programs.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Xavier and Linn-Mar will compete at Thunder Hills Country Club in Peosta hosted by Western Dubuque. Central DeWitt, Clinton, Dubuque Hempstead, Dubuque Senior, Dubuque Wahlert, Mason City and Pleasant Valley round out the field.

Iowa City High, Iowa City Liberty and Iowa City West will travel to a district at Ottumwa Golf and Social Club.

“I’m sure it’s a pretty challenging process to make the sites all equitable in terms of talent, especially when you have to consider geography,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris James said. “I don’t look too much into other district sites just because that takes time away from what matters to me, which is our district. Plus, I have zero control over it so I usually look at them and then forget who is at each site, honestly.”

The top three teams at each district and the top two individuals from non-qualifying teams, including ties, qualify for state Oct. 14-15 at Briarwood Golf Club in Ankeny.

The field at Thunder Hills includes three top-10 teams – No. 4 Wahlert, No. 5 Pleasant Valley and No. 10 Xavier. Linn-Mar is 16th, while four more teams rank in the top 24. Western Dubuque Coach Ben Wilson said he doesn’t think talent was separated equally.

“We have eight teams with a sub-160 composite average,” Wilson said. “The other districts have five, five and six. The talent pool is very deep but the geographic locations of the districts did not lend itself to an even distribution of the talent. They got the top 12 teams separated but after that there was no consideration for the rest of the district and this is certainly going to leave some good individuals home.”

James said the top teams are more consistent but the rest of the teams are so balanced that almost half of the field has a shot at a state berth. It will put a premium on team depth and peaking at the right time.

“I’d say our draw was fair if you look at the rankings,” James said. “We definitely have a really strong core group of teams and then the two outliers in PV and Wahlert, however, I feel like more so this year than any other year I’ve coached boys’ golf, any of the top six to seven teams at our district can play well and win.”

The Bobcats will be able to compete at home. An upper hand could prove important in a competitive field. Western Dubuque has the potential to go low at its home course, but that is where the advantage ends.

“The only advantage is getting to play a course we are very comfortable with,” Wilson said. “Our guys get to play a practice round every day, so we know the course better than anyone else who is going to be there.”

City High, West and Xavier qualified for state last season. The Little Hawks’ Jack Rogers led all area finishers, tying for fourth in the individual race. He is ranked sixth in combined adjusted average, one spot in front of Linn-Mar’s Christian Cloyd.

City High Coach Derek Birt, a former Indian Hills golfer whose home course was at Ottumwa, said his team will be prepared for district play.

“We’re an hour and half away from either district,” Birt said. “I think we have a very tough district to get through to state. Ottumwa is a great course for Jack Rogers because he knows his distances and can really putt his golf ball.

“Our other guys will need to tighten it up with their drivers and short game for us to have a chance to make it as a team.”

Final MVC divisionals are Monday

Mississippi Valley Conference divisional play closes Monday. The Mississippi Division will compete at Hunters Ridge in Marion. Valley Division teams will play at Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course in Waterloo.

Linn-Mar owns a six-stroke lead over Xavier, which is six shots ahead of third-place Western Dubuque in the Mississippi Division team race. Xavier’s Pranay Monga leads Cloyd by one stroke for Player of the Year. Western Dubuque’s Brock Wilson is third and three shots off the lead.

In the Valley Division, Wahlert leads Cedar Falls by one stroke. City High is third and five back of the Tigers. Rogers owns a three-stroke lead over Cedar Falls’ Drew Larimer.

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