Kennedy’s Murdock cards an ace

MARION - Cole Murdock is too young to follow golfing tradition.

The Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior will have to improvise when he celebrates his latest feat. Maybe a little ice cream is in order for him and his Cougar teammates.

Murdock carded a hole-in-one on the 16th hole, capturing medalist honors and helping the Cougars to an Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 4A district team title Tuesday at Hunters Ridge Golf Course. Murdock won a one-hole sudden death playoff with Ottumwa's Matthew Walker after tying with even-par 72.

'It feels really good; I'm not going to lie to you,” Murdock said. 'It's nice winning as a team, but finding a way to get it done as an individual is awesome, too.”

Murdock's first hole-in-one occurred at the perfect time. He played a stiff crosswind, letting it push it back to the cup. The ball hit the bottom of the pin a little more than 135 yards away and dropped for the ace. Murdock said he was 'dumbfounded” and couldn't believe it happened.

'It was crazy,” Murdock said. 'I started it exactly on the line I wanted it to about 10 yards left of the pun, because the wind really started to pick up.

'It's great doing it during competition,” Murdock said. 'It makes it feel even better.”

Kennedy Coach Mark Wilden was transporting golfers from the 16th green to the 17th tee. He drove Kennedy's Tanner Stewart to the next hole, returning to find out of the rarity from Stewart's mother and Murdock's dad, Mike.

'What a thrill for that young man,” Wilden said. 'I've never had a player with a hole in one in a meet.

'In a meet is when it counts.”

Murdock fired 36 on both the front and back 9. He added a birdie on the par-5 No. 6 hole.

'I struck the ball really well today,” said Murdock, noting he has worked on his mental approach to rebound from bad shots and holes. 'There was a three- to four-hole stretch where I hit the ball bad but I was finding a way to score and make pars.”

Kennedy teammate Conner Koberg won a playoff over Linn-Mar's Max Thrune to place third after both ended the round with 74. Koberg was powered by 1-under 35 on the front, including two birdies.

Davis Sutton shot 76 and junior Jordan Weiss added 77 for the Cougars, who will make an eighth straight trip to the state golf meet. They shot 299 and topped runner-up Linn-Mar by seven strokes. Ottumwa claimed the final state berth with 307.

Wilden was impressed by the overall play. He said the Cougars didn't take a state berth for granted against a strong field.

'We just feel blessed we were able to come away the winners or even top three and move on,” Wilden said. 'That is what we did.”

Kennedy has two straight state runner-up finishes. The Cougars are coming together and their sights are set on a state title run.

'We know what to expect when we get there,” Sutton said. 'Most of us have played there the last two years. It will be fun. It will be a good test.”

The Lions produced one of their best overall performances to open the postseason. Linn-Mar Coach Bill Hoefle has been waiting for a more complete performance and said they had the ability. Trevor McCann and Jake Sevcik each added 77. Lions freshman Ben Greif shot 78.

'All six of the guys that are going to be going down to state are capable of shooting under 80,” Hoefle said. 'The team is putting it together.”

Thrune led the way with his 74, posting two birdies. He scored one of them with about three holes remaining, allowing him to relax and close with pars.

'He was one on the team I expected to step up and he did,” Hoefle said. 'It was awesome. He played well.”

The state golf tournament is Friday and Saturday at the Tournament Club of Iowa at Polk City. The first round begins at 10:30 with second-round competition set to start at 9 a.m.

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