Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Garrett Nurre uses hot putter to earn divisional medalist honors

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Garrett Nurre didn’t overthink or question his performance on the green.

The Saints senior just approached the ball and sunk it more often than not. Strong putting yielded medalist honors.

“I was just hot today,” Nurre said. “The putter hasn’t really been there this year, but it felt like I couldn’t miss. I didn’t think about it too much. I just putted.”

Nurre carded just 24 putts and finished with 2-under 61 to win the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division meet Monday at Airport National Golf Course. The Saints also captured the team title with a total of 261, topping runner-up Iowa City Liberty by five.

“They performed exceptionally well,” Xavier Coach Brandon Schiltz said. “We had some really good scores out there. We had a couple holes we needed to look past and they did. They came out firing after that. A lot of birdies and pars.”

For Nurre, the victory was a product of midseason adjustments. He endured some swing struggles and visited his swing coach and Elmcrest Country Club PGA Teaching Pro Brian Johnson. Nurre took what he learned and applied it to his play, coming in two strokes ahead of Cedar Falls runner-up Evan Schofield.

“He fixed me up last week,” Nurre said. “I had a couple of days to figure out my new swing and stuff. It came together today. I also had a putting lesson and that helped a lot.”

Nurre posted even-par 32 on the front nine. He recorded three birdies on the back, closing with consecutive birdies. Nurre benefited from an impressive up and down on No. 17.

Nurre, who placed 17th at the Class 4A state meet last year, earned his second straight first-team all-MVC honor. His play is gearing up in time for the district tournament next Monday with a chance to advance to state Oct. 6-7.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster, knowing that I’m playing well right now,” Nurre said. “With the postseason coming up, it’s nice to play around this time.”

The Saints played well overall. Grant Allen fired a 65 and joined teammates Nurre, freshman Logan Otting and Quincey Johnson as first-team MVC Mississippi performers. Johnson added 66 to Monday’s total, while Jacob Schmit contributed 69.

“They (Nurre and Allen) knew how to get it done,” Schiltz said. “They have a lot of experience and leadership. They knew how to get it done.

“They told me ahead of time that they were going to start breaking away at this point of the season and they are. It’s good timing on their part.”

Dubuque Wahlert won the division title, scoring 865. Xavier chopped into the lead to get second with 870. Liberty was third 887 after the three-round competition. Ryan Schmierer led the Lightning with 64 and tied for third Monday. Schmierer and Vaughn Tyler earned second-team honors and J.J. Grimm was a first-teamer for Liberty.

Reid Hall repeats as player of the year

Cedar Rapids Kennedy defending state champion Reid Hall earned MVC Divisional Player of the Year honors for the second straight season. Hall fired 1-under 71 to win medalist honors Monday at The Meadows Golf Club in Dubuque. He edged Iowa City High’s Jack Rogers by one, lifting him to first place in the three-round event that includes the MVC Super Meet and two divisional meets.

Western Dubuque’s Brock Wilson matched Rogers with 72 Monday.

Hall finished with a total of 210 and Rogers had 211 after his 72 Monday.

City High claimed the MVC Valley team title, shooting 302 in the final round for a total of 912. Western Dubuque was overall runner-up at 935. Kennedy was third at 938.

Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division

At Airport National Golf Course

(Par 63)

Teams – 1. C.R. Xavier 261, 2. Iowa City Liberty 266, 3. C.R. Prairie 267*, 4. Cedar Falls 267, 5. Dubuque Wahlert 270, 6. Dubuque Senior 295, 7. C.R. Jefferson 350.

Individuals – 1. Garrett Nurre (CRX), 61, 2. Evan Schofield (CF), 63, 3. (tie) Ryan Schmierer (ICL) and Jonah Oberfoell (DW), 64, 5. (tie) Henry Sobaski (CRP), C.J. Keenan (CRP), Anthony Galvin (CF) and Grant Allen (CRX), 65.

* - Won tiebreaker with better fifth-player score.

XAVIER (261): Nurre 61, Allen 65, Quincey Johnson 66, Jacob Schmit 69

I.C. LIBERTY (266): Schmierer 64, J.J. Grimm 67, Landon Peoples 67, Lucas Bartachek 68

PRAIRIE (267): Sobaski 65, Keenan 65, Tanner Wachtl 68, Bryson Steuhm 69, Jayson Kubik 73, Pieter Rippentrop 73

JEFFERSON (350): Ben Goudy 78, Brayden Hofer 89, Caden Wilson 89, Aiden Mitts 94

FINAL STANDINGS

Teams – 1. Dubuque Wahlert 865, 2. C.R. Xavier 870, 3. I.C. Liberty 889, 4. Cedar Falls 898, 5. C.R. Prairie 909, 6. Dubuque Senior 954, 7. C.R. Jefferson 1,204.

Individuals – 1. Ben Dolter (DW), 207, 2. Oberfoell (DW), 214, 3. (tie) Nurre (CRX) and Grimm (ICL), 216, 5. Schofield (CF), 217.

Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division

At Dubuque

(The Meadows Golf Club, par 72)

Teams – 1. Iowa City High 302, 2. Linn-Mar 315*, 3. Western Dubuque 315, 4. C.R. Kennedy 319, 5. Iowa City West 324, 6. Waterloo West 330, 7. Dubuque Hempstead 361, 8. C.R. Washington 369.

Individuals – 1. Reid Hall (CRK), 71, 2. (tie) Jack Rogers (ICH) and Brock Wilson (WD), 72, 3. (tie) Cole Collier (ICW) and Nick Meredith (ICH), 74, 5. Ethan Nace (ICH), 75.

* - Won tiebreaker with best fifth-person score.

CITY HIGH (302): Rogers 72, Meredith 74, Nace 75, Jake Mitchell 81

LINN-MAR (315): Cameron Potter 77, Christian Cloyd 78, Max Faulkner 79, Ben Steenrod 81, Dylan Heater 82

KENNEDY (319): Hall 71, Nolan Grawe 80, Alton Ozarowicz 82, Leo Koester 86

I.C. WEST (324): Collier 74, Dillon Croco 80, Jack MacLagan 84, Jack Jenson 86

WASHINGTON (369): Preston Haefner 79, Bjorn White 91, Holden Smith 99, Connor Brown 100

FINAL STANDINGS

Teams – 1. I.C. High 912, 2. Western Dubuque 935, 3. C.R. Kennedy 938, 4. Linn-Mar 942, 5. I.C. West 976, 6. Waterloo West 1,004, 7. C.R. Washington 1,049, 8. Dubuque Hempstead 1,068.

Individuals – 1. Hall (CRK), 210, 2. Rogers (ICH), 211, 3. Wilson (WD), 221, 4. Cloyd (LM), 226, 5. Nace (ICH), 229.

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