Traveling to the West Liberty Country Club, along with 11 other schools, Mid-Prairie competed in its 3rd 18-hole event at the West Liberty Invitational Golf Tournament on April 25. 

In its first two 18-hole meets Mid-Prairie finished in fifth place out of ten teams and fourth place out of eight teams. Staying consistent the Golden Hawks secured a fifth place finish at the West Liberty Invite with a season low score of 350. 

“It was a great effort today.  A lot of very good teams and golfers and we competed with them,” Mid-Prairie coach Kelby Bender said. “Another course three of the golfers had not played and did a great job.”

Just missing fourth place by four strokes the Golden Hawks outing in West Liberty proved to be a rewarding one, with its golfers continuing to improve through experience on other courses.  

There was a two-way tie for first place at the Wildcat Invite. Beckman Catholic and Clear Creek Amana finished with identical scores of 314 to take first place. In third place was West Liberty with a score of 346. 

The medalist of the meet was Regina Catholic senior Mikey Takacs with his first place score of 73. Clear Creek Amana junior Alex Courtright earned runner-up medalist honors with his score of 74. 

Just missing a top ten finish Mid-Prairie junior Drew Schlabaugh tied for 12th place, along with West Branch senior Will Bridges, out of a field of 71 golfers. Schlabaugh would shoot his personal best to finish with a score of 82. This was the top score among all Golden Hawk Golfers. 

He shot a 42 on the front nine and a 40 on the back nine to arrive at his final score. 

Schlabaugh would sink in one birdie on hole eight and nine pars during the meet. The pars came on hole one with five strokes, hole five with four strokes, hole six with four strokes, hole nine with four strokes, hole 10 with five strokes, hole 11 with three strokes, hole 13 with four strokes, hole 15 with four strokes, and hole 16 with five strokes.     

“Drew continues to play well as he shot a personal best 82 with nine pars and finished tied for 12th out of 71 golfers,” Bender said. “He just missed another top 10 finish by only two strokes.”

Also shooting a personal best was Mid-Prairie senior Aiden Bush. Bush shot an 83 to tie for 14th place, along with Tipton senior Colin Nash and Winfield-Mount Union junior Carter Loyd. On the front nine Bush shot a 40 and on the back nine he finished with a 43. 

Schlabaugh and Bush were the only Golden Hawk golfers to finish the meet with a score below 90. Bush completed the meet sinking in nine pars, including five in a row from holes 6 to 10. 

Scoring a 91 to tie for 31st place, along with Camanche junior Mason Duritza and West Branch junior Bradyn Sexton, was Mid-Prairie senior Warren Scarff. 

Scarff shot a 47 on the back nine along with his 44 on the front nine to arrive at his overall score. A tough three hole stretch on 12, 13, and 14 prevented Scarff’s score from being in the 80’s.

Freshman Bryce Henry shot a 94 for the Golden Hawks. He finished the back nine with a 48 and he completed the front nine with a 46. 

Henry finished the 18-hole meet in a five-way tie for 41st place, along with Camanche senior Kane McDanel, Durant senior Garrett Hollenback, Tipton senior Ty Stutzel, and Wapello junior Zach Harbison. 

Finishing with a one stroke difference between each other was Mid-Prairie senior Alex Bean and freshman Clayton Davidson. 

Bean shot a 49 on the front nine and a 47 on the back nine for a final score of 96 to take a four-way tie for 44th place, along with Regina Catholic sophomore Noach Clark, Tipton senior Dylan McCall, and Wapello junior Codder Malcolm. 

Davidson finished the meet with a 97, shooting a 46 on the front nine and a 51 on the back nine. He was able to sink in two birdies, on holes four and eight. His score of 97 puts him in a tie for 48th place, along with Camanche junior Bryce Buckley.  

“I am proud of the effort and improvement the golfers are showing each meet,” Bender said about his golfers’ performance at the invitational. “We just have a few little things to clean up to become a little more consistent throughout an 18 hole meet.”

Mid-Prairie 183, Louisa-Muscatine 207

Getting to stay on its home turf the Golden Hawks welcomed the Louisa-Muscainte Falcons to the Kalona Golf Course for a non-conference dual on April 27. 

Sending the Falcons home with a loss, Mid-Prairie won the dual, 183-207. This win marks the Golden Hawks’ fourth dual win of the season. 

“We played good but not our best,” Mid-Prairie coach Kelby Bender said. “I felt that we were a little tired.  This was the third meet in four days this week and it showed.  A few mental mistakes here and there cost us a few strokes but we played good enough to get the win.  I am proud of how they battled through a little adversity in their rounds and found a way to finish well.”

Leading the Golden Hawks with a score of 44 was junior Drew Schlabaugh. Schlabaugh’s score of 44 earned him medalist honors at this non-conference dual. 

He started off the day by making a birdie three on the par four first hole and he was able to shoot consistently enough to arrive at this dual best score of 44. 

Just one stroke behind Schlabaugh was Mid-Prairie freshman Clayton Davidson. Davidson finished the day with a score of 45. The highlight hole of the dual for Davidson came on hole 3, when he made a long putt to secure a birdie. 

The third top scorer for Mid-Prairie was senior Warren Scarff. Following the trend of one Golden Hawk finishing right below the other, Scarff ended the meet with a score of 46.

West Liberty 171, Mid-Prairie 185

Facing strong winds that would make even a wind turbine jealous, the Golden Hawks traveled to the West Liberty Country Club to face off against the West Liberty Comets in a River Valley Conference dual on May 1.  

This dual ended a busy week for the Mid-Prairie boys golf team and the week would also end in a loss to West Liberty, with a final score of 171-185. 

“On a very windy day West Liberty beat us on their home course.  We did not play our best today in the wind,” Mid-Prairie coach Kelby Bender said. “A few mistakes cost us some good rounds.  They kept battling and we were able to post three decent scores.  Just needed one more good score to break the 180 mark.”

Both of the top scores of the dual belonged to the Comets. West Liberty seniors Ty Jones and Colin Cassady both posted identical scores of 40 to earn co-medalist honors. 

For Mid-Prairie it was its freshman who stood up on this windy day to lead the team in scoring.

“We were led by a pair of freshmen.  Bryce Henry led us with a 44 making two pars and avoiding any really big trouble.  Clayton Davidson shot a 45 with a par and he birdied the par 4 6th hole,” Bender said. 

Coming up for Mid-Prairie will be traveling to the Wahkonsa Country Club to battle Durant on May 8.