AMES— Making a spirited run at the title, the Central College women's golf team came away with a second-place finish at the American Rivers Championships Monday.
The tournament favorite University of Dubuque held on for the crown, shooting 324-331-315—970 in the 54-hole tourney while Central shot 335-324-318--977. Coe College was third at 341-320-322—983. It's Central's ninth top-two conference team finish in the past 11 seasons.
Allie Pfantz (freshman, State Center, West Marshall HS) was named the conference Rookie of the Year Award as she placed second in the medalist race with 83-74-77—234 at the par-71 Ames Golf and Country Club course. Morgan Hawkins of Dubuque took top honors with 75-81-76—232.
"To have a freshman two strokes out of the lead was pretty special," coach
Tabitha Schumacher said. "It was super cool just to watch her play. I knew all season that she was capable of it. Today, she wasn't even striking the ball that well. but she was just scoring. She has the maturity level of an upperclassman already."
Pfantz earned all-conference honors and
Lydia Grond (senior, Hull, Boyden-Hull HS) did so for the third year in a row, finishing sixth at 81-81-79—241.
Parker Stout (senior, Lowden, North Cedar HS) moved up three spots to tie for 16th place at s at 84-86-81—251,
Mickey Martens (sophomore, Villa Park, Ill., Willowbrook HS) was 22md at 87-88-81—256 and
Amber Timmer (freshman, San Diego, Cali., Mount Carmel HS) was 24th at 87-83-88—258.
Central was an underdog but actually held a brief lead midway through Monday's final round. It was a remarkable finish for a squad with almost no tournament experience.
"Lydia (Grond) is the only one who's been at the conference tournament," Schumacher said. "After losing four seniors from our top five last year, if you would have told me we were going to be that close to Dubuque after seeing how good that team was, I probably wouldn't have believed it. It always leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when you come that close, but I'm really proud of them."
Schumacher was impressed with the progress Grond and Stout made in their four years. Grond wasn't in the varsity top five as a freshman, but won the conference tourney in 2022 and was in the top 10 the next two seasons. Meanwhile, Stout cracked the varsity lineup for the first time this season and finished with a flourish.
"Lydia worked her tail off," Schumacher said. "She wasn't really even close to the top five in her first year and to go and win conference her second year and really develop into a leader on the team has been so much fun to watch.
"And then Parker worked hard all summer as well. She really stepped up for the team when we needed her. The best time of year to golf is in the off-season so I never know as a coach if they're going to be ready and come prepared. (Grond and Stout) definitely were and it's a huge testament to the work they did."
The tournament concludes Central's fall season.
