Iowa City High, junior Jack Rogers highlight competitive boys’ golf field at Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet

CEDAR RAPIDS — If the opening meet is indicative of the competition for the fall golf season, players will be challenged each time on the course.

The talent and depth proved that even par was barely good enough to get a Footjoy in the door of the top five. Cardbacks were needed to sift through six of the top-10 placements. Three spots in the team standings had to be determined by tiebreakers.

Iowa City High’s Jack Rogers pulled away from the pack slightly, posting a 4-under 68 to win medalist honors at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet on Thursday at Gardner Golf Course. He helped the Little Hawks finish second with 296, tying Dubuque Wahlert, which won on criteria with the better fifth-player score.

Rogers, who tied for fourth at the 2023 Class 4A state meet, picked up where he left off last season. He was joined under par by Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Pranay Monga and Linn-Mar duo Ben Steenrod and Christian Cloyd, who tied at 1-under 71.

“I’m really happy with how I scored today,” Rogers said. “I honestly think I wasn’t hitting it my absolute best but I was able to let the birdies come to me and score when I needed to. I felt really good about a really good start to the season.”

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Photos: MVC boys’ golf Super Meet

Rogers alternated between bogeys and birdies through the first four holes, starting on No. 5. He started to hit his stride when he hit the turn for the back nine. Rogers posted consecutive birdies, moving to 2-under. He added birdies on the par-3 17th and par-5 No. 2.

“That really boosted my confidence throughout the rest of the round,” Rogers said. “I didn’t have a bogey after that and picked up a couple more birdies coming in. I think that start to the back nine propelled me to a good finish.”

City High’s Henry Birt was 10th with 75. Zack and Nick Meredith rounded out the scoring with 76 and 77, respectively. The Little Hawks narrowly missed the team title to Wahlert, which had 76 or better from its five best golfers. The team performance was important and shows progress over the last few years.

“I’ve seen what they are capable of but I think they’re putting in a lot of hard work,” Rogers said. “We’ve established what a good score and good play looks like over the last couple years so we’re continuing to build off that and get better. Just a really good start to the year.”

Monga won a cardback to earn runner-up medalist honors. The Saints junior fired 34 on the back nine, including birdies on Nos. 11 and 13. He also had a birdie on the sixth hole but Monga stayed in the moment, ignoring his score until the end.

“The cliché ‘one shot at a time’ really does help,” Monga said. “Honestly, I didn’t know what I was until the end of the round. Just fairways and greens. A lot of consistency out there. It was more of a consistent round.”

Monga said he learned earlier this summer that a consistent lifestyle helps to perform consistently on the course. He has merged a funny and lighthearted personality with a competitive edge, which he showed by leading the fourth-place Saints from the No. 4 position.

“It’s kind of what I want to do because I wanted to be a doctor when I get older,” Monga said. “I have a lot of empathy for a lot of people. It feels good but at the same time I want to beat everyone (and) I want to win.”

Linn-Mar finished third, just one shot back of Wahlert and City High. Steenrod and Cloyd led the way. They have a good-natured, competitive relationship, playing an extra qualifying round to hash out a close battle for the top three spots on the team. Linn-Mar Coach Chris James said that could be a huge factor on their improvement this season.

“They want to go out there and play against each other,” James said. “I’m all for it. I’m hopeful that will keep pushing those guys to shoot lower scores and get better.”

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Mississippi Valley Conference boys’ golf Super Meet

At Gardner Golf Course

(Par 72)

Teams – 1. Dubuque Wahlert 296*, 2. Iowa City High 296, 3. Linn-Mar 297, 4. C.R. Xavier 302*, 5. Cedar Falls 302, 6. Dubuque Senior 310, 7. Iowa City West 311*, 8. C.R. Prairie 311, 9. Waterloo West 317, 10. C.R. Kennedy 319, 11. Western Dubuque 320, 12. Iowa City Liberty 323, 13. C.R. Washington 338, 14. Dubuque Hempstead 339, 15. C.R. Jefferson 406.

*-Won tiebreaker with better fifth-player score.

Individuals – 1. Jack Rogers (ICH), 68, 2. Pranay Monga (CRX), 71**, 3. Ben Steenrod (LM), 71**, 4. Christian Cloyd (LM), 71, 5. Cal Mertineau (DW), 72.

**-Won cardback tiebreaker

CITY HIGH (296): Rogers 68, Henry Birt 75, Zach Meredith 76, Nick Meredith 77, Will Feagler 81

LINN-MAR (297): Steenrod 71, Cloyd 71, Max Faulkner 76, Dylan Heater 79

XAVIER (302): Monga 71, Logan Otting 75, Jacob Schmit 77, Grant Allen 79, Jack Pauly 79

I.C. WEST (311): Jack MacLagan 73, Emery Crawford 79, Isaac Wendt 79, Jack Jensen 80, Tate Genkinger 80

PRAIRIE (311): Jayson Kubik 76, Tony Boelter 77, Jack Marquardt 77, Henry Sobaski 81

KENNEDY (319): Leo Koester 75, Brayden Brueggemeyer 77, Blake Paulson 82, Trey McKowen 85

I.C. LIBERTY (323): Brooks Anderson 79, Regan Kopecky 81, Kade Baxter 81, Joel Bilskemper 82

WASHINGTON (338): Preston Haefner 73, Daniel Holladay 87, Holden Smith 88, Connor Brown 90

JEFFERSON (406): Colton Fee 84, Cole Fisher 106, Grant Boll 108, Carter Sherard 108

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