Charlie Allen a ‘bright spot’ on Xavier boys’ golf team

CEDAR RAPIDS - With most things in life, practice makes perfect.

Freshman Charlie Allen practiced golf for three hours a day during the summer. He practices two hours every day with the Cedar Rapids Xavier boys' golf team and one to four hours on the weekend by himself.

All this practice led to the perfect golf shot - a hole-in-one at Valley Oaks Golf Course in Clinton. It a also led him to medalist honors with at a meet at Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course in Waterloo with a 2-under-par 33.

'I am most excited to play in districts and state at one of the best courses in Iowa and compete for a state title,” Allen said.

The district tournament is Monday at Valley Oaks, the state tournament Oct. 11-12 at the Tournament Club of Iowa in Polk City.

Allen continues to get better with the competitive environment of the team and with the help of Head coach Tim O'Brien.

'Charlie has been a definite bright spot. He has been playing very well,” O'Brien said. 'He made the adjustment to team golf pretty quickly and he continues to get better. When you have a younger player playing well, it is also a big motivator to the older players and so I am very pleased.”

Allen is a new addition to the Saints' team and is competing against many players older than him.

'There was a little bit of pressure coming in as a freshman, but this summer, I was competing against kids older than me and most of them are some of the best in the state,” he said. 'I knew I could hang with them, so that took some pressure off.”

Seniors Michael Glavan believes Allen is a great player because of his consistency.

One main goal for the team this season is making it to the state tournament for the third consecutive year.

'We will have a great season just because of how many solid players we have on varsity,” Glavan said. 'We all practice and play together and it is just a great environment to be in.”

The Saints are playing in the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division meet today at Bunker Hill Golf Course in Dubuque.