MHS boys’ golf team starts new season with four conference titles in tow
The drawbacks of graduating half of your lineup is the leadership, experience and scoring lost.
The advantages include the opportunities that come with all those vacancies.
Marshalltown head boys golf coach Lucas Johnson sees both sides of the scenario when comparing last season’s roster to this year’s squad ahead of Thursday’s season-opening meet for the Bobcats.
MHS tees it up at 10 a.m. at Bright Grandview Golf Course in an Iowa Alliance Conference triangular against Fort Dodge and host Des Moines North, and the Bobcats’ lineup looks halfway the same as a year ago.
Gone with graduation are Ty Faltys, Eli Polley and Adam Boone — three then-seniors who contributed the first-, third- and fourth-best scoring averages on the team last fall. Faltys qualified for state individually after having his score count in 13 of 14 meets for the Bobcats, who missed out on advancing to state by just seven strokes.
Johnson relishes the opportunities afforded this year’s group by all the spots that need to be filled by experienced golfers.
“To me, this is a season of opportunity for a lot of guys,” Johnson said. “We bring back three of the six varsity players from last year and that opens up 50 percent of the roster for guys to step in.
“Our schedule this year sets up, I think, very favorably for us in the sense that we get a couple of Alliance triangulars in these first couple weeks and get a sense of where we’re at, and then we can start gearing up for what will be some really tough competition as we head down the road.”
Returning to the varsity lineup will be juniors Jacob Seberger and Parker Christen, and sophomore Joe Greazel. Greazel is the top returning scorer after averaging the second-best round of 39.15 per nine holes last fall. Seberger (42.23) and Christen (44.38) weren’t looked upon to contribute every time they took to the course last season, but they will be this year.
“Joe Greazel led us in many of the meets last year, and I would think if you talk to him individually, that’s going to be one of his goals is to be the guy in a lot of our meets,” Johnson said. “Jacob Seberger and Parker Christen are underclassmen last year who weren’t necessarily relied upon to provide those counting scores, and now this year it becomes ‘you are.’ You are the guy that needs to step up and bring that score, and they’ve shown they can do that.”
Greazel’s score counted in all 13 team events last fall, while Seberger (7) and Christen (3) also contributed to the final tally from time to time.
Sophomore Gavin Misek will toss his hat into the ring for the varsity squad this season as well, showing his ability with a runner-up finish in the first flight of the 38th annual Times-Republican City Golf Tournament two weeks ago.
Trae Misek, Korben McKibben and Bryson Payne will compete for the final two spots in the varsity lineup, which could become fluid depending on the consistency that comes with more competitive experience this season.
“This is their year to hopefully understand what it takes to be a Class 4A golfer in the state of Iowa and we’ll see who wants to compete,” Johnson said.
Marshalltown has won the last four Iowa Alliance Conference titles, so expectations have been set whether justified or not.
“Golf is a game that you play individually, and then you come together at the end and it becomes a team sport only once we’ve done some math,” Johnson said. “I think with each player we talk about what their goals are for this season.
“That’s definitely going to be one of the themes of the season is who wants to step up because on paper, this is a squad that won’t change a whole lot over the next two years. We’ve won conference the last four years. Can we get No. 5? I think that’s a doable goal.”
Johnson likes the way his team’s schedule is shaped, starting with some competitive conference meets before revving up for invitational play on more daunting courses.
He has set a modest goal of 320 for his team’s targeted score to start the season, but he’s prepared to be patient as the fall progresses.
“The beauty of the fall golf season is everybody should come in at peak condition because, if they’re doing it right, they’ve been playing in tournaments,” Johnson said. “They have played a lot of competitive golf, so tomorrow doesn’t feel like the start of anything. It feels like the continuation of what we’ve been doing all season long.”
The Bobcats’ home opener will be an Alliance triangular on Thursday, Aug. 21, against Ames and Des Moines Roosevelt at Elmwood Country Club. MHS hosts Des Moines Lincoln for a dual on Sept. 9 at the American Legion Memorial Golf Course, and the Joe August Invite is Sept. 18 at Elmwood Country Club.
“That 320 barrier, I think, is where we want to be, and that’ll become more challenging as we get to play more challenging courses,” Johnson said. “But our schedule sets up pretty well early on.”