Creston’s Spencer advances to district

KNOXVILLE — Creston placed fifth among eight teams at Wednesday’s Class 3A sectional golf tournament and advanced sophomore Branden Spencer to district competition Monday in Atlantic.

“We shot our best score of the year (339) without our No. 1 and No. 3 golfers,” Creston coach Steve Shantz said. “Branden Spencer shot a 79, going under 80 for the first time to qualify for districts. He needed bogey on the last hole to make it after waiting 20 minutes to hit his shot on the par-3 18th hole and No. 1 handicap hole (tiebreaker), and hit it within 10 feet and parred the hole to secure second place and the right to move on.”

Spencer was one of the top two individuals not on one of the district qualifying teams earning district qualification. In shooting a 41 on the front nine, Spencer birdied the par-4 No. 1 hole and followed with a birdie on the par-5 No. 13 hole in carding a 38 on the back nine.

District qualifying teams were Knoxville, Atlantic and Winterset. Knoxville shot a 290 for a 10-stroke margin over runner-up Atlantic.

Two Panther seniors were out of action Wednesday. Marshall Long, coming off a 12th-place finish at the Hawkeye Ten tournament, was out with an injury and Chasse Downing had a schedule conflict.

Team scoring — 1. Knoxville 290; 2. Atlantic 300; 3. Winterset 314; 4. Glenwood 332; 5. Creston 339; 6. Carlisle 340; 7. Chariton 342; 8. Clarke 362.

District qualifiers — 1. Grant Gerdes, Knoxville, 69; 2. Brady Rozeboom, Knoxville, 70; 3. Gage Gross, Atlantic, 71; 4. Urban Ziller, Knoxville, 75; 5. Brady Wood, Atlantic, 75; 6. Sam Brosam, Atlantic, 75; 7. Daxton Weeks, Winterset, 76; 8. Mikey DeVos, Knoxville, 76; 9. Bradley Hughes, Glenwood, 77; 10. Dane Van Werden, Winterset, 78; 11. Luke Roozeboom, Knoxville, 78; 12. Branden Spencer, Creston, 79.

Creston (339) — Branden Spencer 79; Garrett Troutwine 84; Kylen Parsons 85; Javen Hyde 91; Gabe Blazek 96; Mason Wilson 102.