Mount Ayr girls win SW Iowa Cup

Winterset won the Southwest Iowa Cup golf tournament held in Creston and Afton Tuesday with a combined score of 756 in boys and girls competition.

Mount Ayr was a close second overall at 759. Winterset won the trophy in 2023 and Clarke captured it in 2024.

Mount Ayr edged Winterset by two strokes at 426-428 for the girls team title. Sophomore Jaylee Shaffer, state runner-up last year, dominated the girls division by shooting 79 for a 19-stroke margin over Nodaway Valley’s Mallory Russell. She had nine-hole rounds of 37 and 42.

Also, Winterset boys (328) won the Tri-County Battle over Clarke (375) and Creston (388). The trophy goes to the winner in the original three schools that rotated in hosting the boys tourney involving those teams. Creston was sixth in the boys Southwest Iowa Cup involving seven teams.

Averi Culbertson of Creston was sixth-place medal winner in the Southwest Iowa Cup girls competition with an 18-hole round of 105. Creston girls placed third as a team at 449.

Zayne Eslinger of East Union was boys medalist in the 18-hole tournament held at Crestmoor Golf Club (Creston) and Lakeshore Golf and Country Club (Afton). Eslinger shot 77.

Top Creston boys player for the day was Ethan Holliday with a round of 90, one stroke ahead of Chasse Downing.

Creston coach Steve Shantz was pleased with Culbertson’s medal-winning performance and the improvement of some inexperienced players.

“On the girls side Averi earned a sixth-place medal and played very steady,” Shantz said. “Ricci Johnston has been very impressive in her first year and is hitting the ball very well. Nora Barton was also impressive with her first round under 60 and her first par on the tough hole six at Crestmoor. Kylie Metheny was steady but will be better as the season goes along.”

Holliday’s nine-hole rounds of 48 and 42 showed he is improving, as well.

“Ethan Holliday showed more of his upside shooting 90,” Shantz said. “That might be his best round in competition. He just needs consistency. We think our short game can improve after watching all of our golfers. It is a hard thing to practice but that is where all the scoring happens. Chasse Downing was steady but hit one out of bounds that hurt. We have a lot of golfers competing for spots coming up and we’ll see how they respond.”

Among the area highlights besides Shaffer’s dominance in the girls tournament and Eslinger’s medalist performance in the boys event were runner-up finishes by Nodaway Valley’s Mallory Russell with a 98 and Dylan Graham of Mount Ayr with a 79. Two other Mount Ayr boys — Jaxson Greene and Tanner Streit — each shot 82 to place fourth and fifth among the medal winners.

Lenox boys had a balanced lineup in edging Creston for fifth place, 381 to 388. Clarke’s Sophie Davis was fifth in the girls event with a 104.

SOUTHWEST IOWA CUP

GIRLS

Team scores — 1. Mount Ayr 426; 2. Winterset 428; 3. Creston 449; 4. Nodaway Valley 498.

Individual medalists — 1. Jaylee Shaffer, MA, 79; 2. Mallory Russell, NV, 98; 3. Kennedy Jones, Wint, 99; 4. Brooke Davis, Wint, 103; 5. Sophie Davis, Clarke, 104; 6. Averi Culbertson, Creston, 105. (Handicap holes tiebreaker.)

Mount Ayr (426) — Jaylee Shaffer 37-42 — 79; Izzy Gilbertson 55-53 — 108; Alana Doolittle 57-56 — 113; Claire Routh 61-65 — 126; Abby Larson 66-61 — 127; Olivia Huntington 64-65 — 129.

Creston (449) — Averi Culbertson 48-57 — 105; Kylie Metheny 54-57 — 111; Ricci Johnston 59-54 — 113; Nora Barton 56-64 — 120.

Nodaway Valley (498) — Mallory Russell 49-49 — 98; Brailyann Coffman 65-66 — 131; Aleyah Pilgreen 67-67 — 134; Taryn Gutierrez 64-71 — 135.

Lenox — Hadlee Christensen 53-53 — 106; Genesis Wimer 68-62 — 130; Faith Dougherty 71-71 — 142.

East Union — Kathryn Lack 52-54 — 106; Marlys Mitchell 63-64 — 127.

Clarke — Sophie Davis 47-57 — 104.

BOYS

Team scoring — 1. Winterset 328; 2. Mount Ayr 333; 3. East Union 366; 4. Clarke 375; 5. Lenox 381; 6. Creston 388; 7. Nodaway Valley 421.

Individual medalists — 1. Zayne Eslinger, EU, 77; 2. Dylan Graham, MA, 79; 3. Dane Van Warden, Wint, 79; 4. Jaxson Greene, MA, 82; 5. Tanner Streit, MA, 82; 6. Hunter Lyon, Wint, 82. (Handicap holes tiebreaker).

Mount Ayr (333) — Dylan Graham 41-38 — 79; Tanner Streit 41-41 — 82; Jaxson Greene 44-38 — 82; Jaxsen Walter 49-41 — 90; Louden Main 49-44 — 93; Trevin Victor 47-47 — 94.

East Union (366) — Zayne Eslinger 37-40 — 77; Kyson Kessler 46-45 — 91; Slade Turner 52-45 — 97; Terrain Islas 49-52 — 101.

Clarke (375) — Peyton Lynn 46-46 — 92; Ryan Diehl 50-43 — 93; Kohen Poore 48-45 — 93; Cole Jacobson 49-48 — 97; Aydan Mathews 51-52 — 103; Kale Tyler 57-52 — 109.

Lenox (381) — Laramie Stoaks 45-44 — 89; Dayton Tull 49-45 — 94; Kolben Robinson 51-44 — 95; Dayson Gregg 55-48 — 103; Winston Adams 52-52 — 104; Chase O’Riley 58-49 — 107.

Creston (388) — Ethan Holliday 48-42 — 90; Chasse Downing 44-47 — 91; Tristan Evans 53-50 — 103; Jake Hoyt 54-50 — 104; Brandon Spencer 48-56 — 104; Garrett Troutwine 57-49 — 106.

Nodaway Valley (421) — Sam Miller 50-47 — 97; Jack Berg 53-47 — 100; Ty Strode 58-53 — 111; Collin Akers 59-54 — 113; Jett Christensen 63-58 — 121.

Southwest Iowa Cup overall scoring — 1. Winterset 756; 2. Mount Ayr 759; 3. Creston 837; 4. Nodaway Valley 919. (East Union, Clarke, Lenox incomplete girls teams).

Tri-County Battle (boys) — 1. Winterset 756; 2. Clarke 375; 3. Creston 388.