Kennedy girls' golf springs to strong start

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids Kennedy ranks among the leaders early in the girls' golf season.

The strong performance couldn't come to much of a surprise to Cougars coach Julie Buerman, who thought they could improve on their fifth-place conference finish a year ago.

Kennedy is sixth with a team average of 180 1/2 strokes per nine holes after two meets this year. The Cougars are fourth in Class 5A and have scored better than all six teams they have faced.

Plenty of experience came back from last season, including 10 golfers from a team that was third at the regional meet, missing state by a few strokes.

'I knew I had a lot of returning players,' said Buerman, who is in her 17th season at Kennedy. 'They worked very hard throughout the winter.'

The effort has paid dividends. They have a strong camaraderie, which allows them to have fun during practice while pushing each other to improve.

'The varsity team gets along really well,' Buerman said. 'They all know they are an important part of the team. They are all working to get better.'

Kennedy opened the season firing a 180 and winning a quadrangular by 16 strokes over Linn-Mar at Gardner Golf Course in cold and windy conditions.

The Cougars followed that with a victory at a triangular hosted by Dubuque Wahlert. They shot 181, beating the Golden Eagles by six at Dubuque Golf and Country Club on Tuesday. The course was new to them, but they handled it well.

'Last week, when we played the weather was really bad (and) it was a tough golf course but a tough afternoon to play golf.' Buerman said. 'Last night, nobody had played there. The weather was nicer but the course was harder and they didn't know where they were going, so for them to do that was nice.'

Cedar Falls is the only Mississippi Valley Conference team to post a better nine-hole score than Kennedy, so far.

'They definitely have upped their level a little bit,' Buerman said. 'Last year, they would have been really happy with that score and then (Tuesday) some were frustrated with their scores.'

The Cougars are led by all-conference performer Sierra Hargens, who averages 40 with a low score of 38. Hargens captured the 2015 Iowa Golf Association's Girls Junior tournament title. Junior Katie Choate is second on the team with a 44.5 average, coming in with a low of 42. Seniors Val Davidson (47.0) and Nicole DeCoste (49.0) give Kennedy a quartet that can break 50 any time on the course.

Hargens and Davidson have already made plans to continue their careers in college. Hargens has a full scholarship offer to Indiana State University. Davidson, an all-conference and all-Metro player, will compete at Mount Mercy in the fall. This marks the first time Buerman has had two from the same class commit to play college golf.

'For both of them to get scholarships is fantastic,' Buerman said. 'We've tried to provide them with information telling them girls' golf scholarships are very available, so if they play and work on their game it's just as good as having a summer job. They have taken it to heart and it paid off for those two.'

Kennedy will face its toughest test so far. It will face Iowa City West in a triangular against host West Liberty

'Iowa City West has a very good team,' Buerman said. 'It will be a good battle.

'The girls like the competition.'

CRANDIC MEET

The CRANDIC meet is one of the highlights of the spring golf schedule. The annual event will be held next Wednesday at Brown Deer Golf Club in Iowa City.

Iowa City West will host the nine-team field, consisting of eight public schools from the Cedar Rapids/Marion Metro and Iowa City and Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Last year, West won the team title by 25 strokes over Iowa City High. The Little Hawks' Sarah Overton is the defending CRANDIC medalist.

VIKINGS ON TOP

On QuikStats Iowa, Vinton-Shellsburg's boys rank first in the state when it comes to nine-hole team average. The Vikings have just one recorded event, but they combined for a 150. The Vikings averaged 37.5 for their top four scores.

Vinton-Shellsburg had a breakthrough season in 2015, going 50-13 overall and placing second in the tough Wamac Conference. The Vikings returned five starters, including second-team all-Wamac players Tyler Stueck, Austin Bohnsack and junior Mike DeLong.

Grant Noren led the way with 36 in the opener. Stueck and Bohnsack shot 37 and 38, respectively. Tanner Cummings added a 39.

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