Bulldogs stunned! — miss state field

 

COURIER SPORTS STAFF

IOWA CITY —

Shocked,

stunned, dejected.

All those words summed it up —

none of them will hide the hurt.

There will be no repeat for the

Ottumwa boys golf team this fall.

Ottumwa —attempting to

defend its 2008 Class 4A state title

in district play at Iowa City — left

empty-handed at Finkbine Golf

Course on Tuesday.

They’ll be a new state champ in

2009 in Class 4A.

In what came as the surprise of

the state this fall in prep golf, Mike

Cardin’s talented

Bulldog squad

ended its season

early on a course

affected by heavy

winds.

That favored

the hometown

teams — mainly

Cedar Rapids

Kennedy (319),

Linn-Mar (329)

and host Iowa City West (331) —

the eventual state qualifiers that

new the ins and outs of the course a

lot better than Ottumwa and took

advantage of

nature’s leveler

of talent.

“It was brutal.

At that point it

becomes an

equalizing force,”

Cardin said

about the weather.

Ottumwa finished

fifth with a

team total of 336 — five strokes

behind third-place West. Cardin,

needless to say, was taken aback

after his team’s 18-hole round came

to a conclusion.

The state meet takes the top

three to state at Davenport Country

Club this weekend.

“To end this way, it was devastating,”

said Cardin, who has guided

Ottumwa to seven state titles.

So devastating that Cardin stated

it’s perhaps his most disappointing

team finish that he can remember.

Cardin’s been at Ottumwa

since 1987.

It just wasn’t Cardin and his

Bulldog players that were left flabbergasted

after the stunning developments

unfolded. Opposing coaches and

other teams in attendance

were equally perplexed

how one of the favorites to

win state was shut out on a

surreal and uncharacteristic

day.

“They didn’t know what

to say. I didn’t know what to

say. They just looked at me

and shook their heads,” said

Cardin.

The winds gusted out at

30 to 40 miles an hour and

wreaked havoc on the same

course that shut Ottumwa

out of state in 2007.

The combination of those

conditions and a belowaverage

performance added

up to disaster for the Bulldogs.

“I’ve played in wind like

this at districts once. I don’t

know how you prepare for

wind like this. In every

meet we played in there

wasn’t a leaf moving on a

tree,” said Cardin. “We just

weren’t prepared for these

type of conditions.

In the end there was no

excuse from Cardin about

his team being sent home

early as the conditions were

the same for every team in

attendance.

“I’m not taking anything

away from anybody — we

didn’t play good. We didn’t

get our job done,” said

Cardin.

Ottumwa senior Michael

Wetrich — the Class 4A

Golfer of the Year last year

– was honored as the meet

medalist. He shot a six-over

par 78 and will compete at

state this weekend as an

individual.

He’ll look to make it

back-to-back state champions

for Ottumwa in terms of

individual state medalists.

Bulldog Corbin Gardner

won state in 2008.

Tyler Granneman (82),

Marcus Giltner (88), Zach

Throckmorton (88), Cody

Palmer (89) and Taylor

Maas (89) rounded out the

scoring for Ottumwa.

Cardin knows his team

will learn from the setback

and be better because of it.

“The thing about life is it

teaches you life lessons.

Adversity teaches you character.

Life doesn’t always

give you what you want,”

said the Ottumwa coach.

Oskaloosa also finished

fifth at its district at Blank

Golf Course. The Indians

carded a team score of 334.

Dowling Catholic, Southeast

Polk and Des Moines

Lincoln advanced to state.

Class 4A District

At Finkbine Golf Course, Iowa City

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009

Par 72

Team scoring — 1. Cedar Rapids

Kennedy 319; 2. Linn-Mar, Marion 329; 3.

Iowa City West 331; 4. Iowa City High 333;

5. Ottumwa 336; 6. Cedar Rapids Prairie

342; 7. Cedar Rapids Xavier 344; 8. Muscatine

346; 9. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 347;

10. Burlington 356; 10. Cedar Rapids Washington

356; 12. Davenport West 367; 13.

Newton 370.

Medalist — Michael Wetrich, Ottumwa

78.

Runner-up — Dane Worley, Cedar

Rapids Kennedy 79.

Team State Qualifiers — 1. Cedar

Rapids Kennedy 319; 2. Linn-Mar, Marion

329; 3. Iowa City West 331.

Individual State Qualifiers — Wetrich,

Worley, Isaac Brown, Cedar Rapids

Kennedy 79; Ryan Shields, Iowa City West

79; Cody Bell, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 79;

Ryan Maske, Iowa City High 79.

Ottumwa individuals — Tyler Granneman

82, Marcus Giltner 88, Zach Throckmorton

88, Cody Palmer 89, Taylor Maas

89.