Sep. 19—INDIANOLA — The Ottumwa High School boys golf team showed on Monday just what they’re capable of.
Stephen Brinegar shook off a double bogey on the lengthy par 5 opening hole at the Indianola Country Club, producing five straight pars while avoiding a bigger number throughout the remainder of the round at the Steve Spray Invitational. Brinegar closed out a round of 76 by nearly hitting a hole-in-one on the 16th, leading the Bulldogs to a season-best team score of 328 securing a fifth-place finish at the home tournament of the Indianola Indians.
“You can definitely tell that Stephen put in a lot of work over the weekend to make a 30-stroke improvement from last week,” Ottumwa head boys golf coach Kyle Creamer said. “He hit the ball well all day. We really talked with him about having a pre-shot routine and sticking to it. That tee shot on the 16th actually spun back and hit the cup. It should have gone in for an ace.”
Logan Storto added a round of 79 for the Bulldogs, securing pars on four holes on the front nine before adding a birdie on the 521-yard par-5 13th hole. Ottumwa posted their season-low score even while Chase Thompson, coming off a top-10 finish last Thursday at the Joe August Invitational in Marshalltown, finished with a score of 85 almost three shots higher than his 18-hole season average and 10 shots higher than his best 18-hole score of the season.
“Anything in the 70s for Logan is right where we want him to be,” Creamer said. “The back nine just kind of got to Chase, but you can’t have your best day every day. He knows he’s capable of a better round than that. It definitely proves that we’re capable of 320 or better as a team going forward.”
Dominick Rath rounded out the scoring on Monday for Ottumwa with a round of 88, posting scores of 44 on each side of the course. Milo Canny posted a 91 for the Bulldogs while Ethan Reynolds closed out the day with a score of 117.
The Ottumwa golfers are back in action on Wednesday at Cooper Creek Golf Club on Wednesday, competing in the Southeast Polk Invitational. Action tees off in Pleasant Hill at 9 a.m.
