First 18-hole rounds goes well for Wolverines at Shen

Nodaway Valley’s golfers pleased coaches very much with their rounds at a pair of tournaments hosted by Shenandoah last week.

The boys golfed Tuesday, April 11, while the girls went two days later. Both were 18-hole events, the first meet of that kind the Wolverines had seen thus far.

Nodaway Valley competed in a small school division of the tournament both days.

In the girls meet, freshman Mallory Russell led the way, shooting a 62-51 113-stroke day. Lindsey Davis, who shot a 57-59 116, was next in line. Junior Ashlyn Gutierrez shot a 63-57 for 120; Bella Hogan a 55-69 for 124 and Delaney Blomme a 70-74 for 144.

NV’s team score was 473, good enough for fifth out of seven full teams entered. Sidney won the division with a 407. The Cowgirls took the top two individual spots with Eve Brumbaugh’s 94 and Avery Downing’s 95.

Clarinda won the large school division, which featured six full teams, with a 420.

“The wind was unbelievably strong and did effect the ball flight, but the girls hung in there,” said Nodaway Valley coach Julie Hartman. “For some of the girls it was their first 18-hole tournament, and that course is not an easy one to walk. Mallory is just a freshman and shot a score of 113, which was our best score in the tournament, but we had four girls finish under 125. There is always room for improvement, but overall I’m happy with how the girls played. Our putting is what hurt us the most, but we still have time to work on that.”

Zack Gebbie was 16th on the leaderboard at the end of the boys meet, shooting a 42-42 for 84 to lead Nodaway Valley. Kaden Herr shot a 44-42 for 86 to place 23rd. Landon Klobnak shot a 46-43 89, Bradley Gebbie a 46-53 99 and Xander Hogan a 55-52 107.

“Tonight was our first 18-hole tournament and you wouldn’t have known a difference. I had Zack, Kaden and Landon as my front runners, and they did exactly that,” said Nodaway Valley coach Joel Klobnak. “Some chip-ins and putt savers cleaned up a few challenges causing errors. Our next big 18-hole tournament will be at Winterset on the 28th. This is usually our toughest challenge of the year. After today’s tournament I am excited to see them perform at Winterset. We will stay on course for now as we are steering this ship in the right direction.”

NV’s teams were scheduled to play a triangular against Lenox and Martensdale-St. Marys in Lenox Monday, April 17. They will play in a triangular against Martensdale-St. Marys and Central Decatur Tuesday, April 25 at Deer Run Golf Club in Indianola.