Southeast Conference boys golf tournament
May 5—FAIRFIELD — It was almost as much a reunion as a competition on Wednesday for the Burlington boys golf team.
Having played through an entire Class 4A season of fall golf, the Grayhounds made one last return to the course during the school year taking part in the Southeast Conference Tournament. With all of their conference rivals playing in 3A, which competes during the spring, Burlington found themselves in the unique position of officially wrapping the season in a conference tournament over six months after competing in an Iowa high school state tournament.
"I almost think the guys were a little too excited on the van ride up here," Burlington head boys golf coach Brian Mumm said. "Because we play in the fall, we never see these guys except for this tournament. That's what I found to be so much fun. They knew so many of the guys from the other sports they play against each other throughout the year, so it was kind of like they were getting a friendly welcome.
"It was also fun for me because I never get to see these coaches throughout our season. It's kind of a weird scenario, maybe the weirdest I've ever seen, but it turned out well for us."
Burlington made the most of their one-and-done spring golf season, adding a Southeast Conference title to their list of accomplishments that included a fourth-place finish in the 4A boys state golf tournament held back in October at Beaver Hills Country Club in Cedar Falls. Almost seven months after rounds of 313 and 311 at state, Burlington posted a 307 on Wednesday at the Fairfield Golf and Country Club beating the hosting Trojans by 19 shots with four Greyhound golfers bringing home top-six individual medals.
"We haven't really been able to get out much this spring due to the weather, but it was fun to come out here with the team one last time," Burlington senior Nate Spear said. "It was nice to take one last van ride, and we took home the win."
Spear, who rolled in seven birdies in two rounds this fall to finish sixth in the 4A state tournament with a two-round total of 146, took home a third-place medal on Wednesday from the Southeast Conference tournament in his final competition for the Burlington golf team. Spear was tied for the lead with Washington sophomore Roman Roth with four holes left before a double-bogey on his 15th hole dropped Spear out of the lead for good.
"It wasn't quite the way I would have liked to have finished my final round at Burlington," said Spear, who will join good friend and Ottumwa state champion Cale Leonard at Drake University starting this fall. "Still, it was fun to come out and compete against the guys one last time. I didn't have my best stuff, but I made sure to enjoy it. Whenever I saw my guys out there, I made sure to talk with them and share a laugh with them."
Tomas Rascon, one of Spear's longtime teammates, finished as the Southeast Conference runner-up with a round of 74. Roth, meanwhile, claimed the individual conference title winning medalist honors for the second time in three days in Fairfield posting a one-over par round of 71 that included six straight pars to clinch the title.
"The confidence with my driving really seems to be making the difference," Roth said. "It hasn't been very good at times this season. Over the past couple of days, it seems to be straightening out."
Despite the medalist honors earned by Roth, Washington was unable to topple Fairfield on Wednesday for the second straight meet. Coming off winning their home invitational title on Monday with a round of 322, the Trojans posted a round of 326 finishing as the runner-up in both the Southeast Conference tournament and regular-season standings.
"It was really nice to play here at home and see all the guys play well over the past two tournaments," Fairfield sophomore Sam Weaton said. "Hopefully, we can carry it on next week to the district tournament (at Shaeffer Memorial Golf Course) and carry that on to state."
The younger Weaton would bring home Fairfield's only individual medal from the Southeast Conference tournament, placing fourth with a round of 77. Trojan senior Max Weaton brought home Fairfield's second-best individual score, posting an 81 coming up one shot shy of earning his own all-conference medal.
"I felt like I had a chance to shoot a round in the 70s here on my home course," Sam Weaton said. "There were a lot of Burlington kids pushing us on throughout the round. I'm pretty happy with where I was. I hung in there with (Tomas Rascon) during our round together. We know what it's going to take to compete with a state qualifier. Hopefully, we've got the ability to be a state qualifier ourselves."
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
