MARSHALLTOWN

Nobody stayed home.

That’s the heart-warming story about Highland High School’s girls golf team. When the Huskies made it to the Iowa 1A state golf tournament in early June for the second consecutive year, a big deal all by itself, everybody went on the trip. Even Mackenzie Davis, the one injured Huskie. She drove the golf cart for coach Travis Riggan.

If you went out to the parking lot at the American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown last week, you’d find it easy to spot the Highland van. It was the white vehicle with the names of all six Huskie golfers written on the back window.

Oops. Make that seven.

There are no cuts to this team.

There is no junior varsity.

It’s just this seven in a program that didn’t even have golf one year due to Covid.

“Just to get here is huge,” Riggan said.

All that emotion poured out after the Huskies had stepped onto a platform to accept their fourth-place team trophy. Adeline Krotz, the team’s only senior, was near tears as she talked about her teammates. Planning to enter the University of Iowa as a dental student, Krotz had already asked Riggan if she’d be welcomed back next year.

Davis, whose basketball injury ripped spring golf away, stayed on as the team manager.

On Thursday, the first day of the 36-hole championship tournament, Emersyn Schultz, a junior, had the round of her life. She shot a 6-over-par 77 over the first 18 holes, tying Calista Joyce of Emmetsburg and Bretlyn Decker of Central City for the individual lead.

“Yesterday, I felt good,” Schultz said Friday after the tournament’s completion.

Friday, the winds picked up in Marshalltown and reading the greens was difficult.

“Not trying to beat the score (77), but come close to it,” Schultz said.

She wound up shooting an 89, but both of the other leaders on Thursday also shot in the 80s and neither won the individual title. Schultz finished sixth individually and Adisyn Prottsman, a junior, was 15^th.

Krotz shot in the 90s both days.

“It was pretty cool,” Krotz said. “Last year was awesome. It was good to come back.”

Walking up that 18th fairway can test your nerves. By the time Schultz headed for her final green, a large crowd was gathered around the hole. They cheered as a golfer sank a putt from 20 feet away and oooohed as another’s putt rimmed out.

It’s a different world from the rest of the season when the only noises are cars on a nearby highway or birds chirping in a tree.

“It’s a little stressful and nerve-wracking,” Schultz said.

Here is how a state tournament works: Six golfers play. The top four scores count. So that means, in terms of a team score, that fourth golfer may be as crucial as the first one. Highland’s top four all ranked among the top 15, with Krotz coming in at No. 41 and Joslyn Prottsman at No. 52.

Playing in their first state tournament were Cassidy Duster, a junior, and freshmen Joslyn Prottsman and Autumn Guseman.

“I have six high-quality kids,” Riggan said.

After it was over Friday afternoon, the six, no, seven Huskies took their trophy and went to the practice green, where they posed for photos as parents took their cellphone out.

A memory.

And then it was back to the van. You know, the one with all those names written on the back.

With room for a trophy.

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter (X): @bowkerpaul