The Gehlen Catholic golf teams continued their run of winning on Tuesday as the Boys beat Harris-Lake Park and Trinity Christian and the Girls beat Harris-Lake Park in Le Mars.
The Gehlen girls have seen a lot of progress over the season with their scores progressively getting lower and lower. Head Coach Kathy Neary says that can be attributed to a noticeable uptick in confidence in her team.
Not only has her #1 golfer, Jayden Barthole, been impressive. Gehlen’s #2 golfer Olivia Bunkers has been equally as impressive. Bunkers came off a first-place finish individually on Monday night to finish fourth individually on Tuesday night. As Coach Neary explains, it’s even more impressive considering how her spring has gone off the golf course.
The Jays have proven they can get impressive scores and beat some of the best that the War Eagle Conference has to offer. Coach Neary now is not worried about her top-three golfers on any given night. It’s her fourth scoring golfer, whoever that may be, on any given night that she worries about. She says once all four golfers’ scores are hitting the mid-50s, there will not be much that can stop the Jays.
The Gehlen Catholic boys have gotten some great play all season from their stellar sophomore Dawson Barthole. He did it again on Tuesday night by tying for first-place in the individual totals with a 42. The key for Barthole is to go hole-by-hole to keep himself focused on his play.
Gehlen Catholic’s Dawson Barthole sinks a par putt on hole 8 (the second playoff hole) at Willow Creek to earn medalist honors over Trinity Christian’s Alec De Boer. Barthole shoots a 42 in nine. The Jays win the meet with a 182 over Trinity and Harris-Lake Park. pic.twitter.com/mCu7mxCyez
— KLEM Sports (@KLEMSports) April 27, 2022
The 42 he shot was nice, but he had not locked up the individual win due to Trinity Christian’s Alec De Boer tying him. The two had to go to a playoff, and Barthole won it with a par putt on the second playoff hole. Barthole says he saw De Boer leave the door open by missing his par putt, and he knew he needed to take it slow to come out on top.
The Jays feature a roster comprised of two seniors and four sophomores in their varsity six. Barthole says that despite their age, the Jays are playing really good right now. He hopes that can continue for the rest of the season.
The Jays girls and boy are back in action on Wednesday as they head to Fort Dodge for the annual CYO meet hosted this year by Fort Dodge St. Edmond.
