Cardinal golfers struggle 2nd day of state, finish out of medals

LIVERMORE — Austin Reynolds said his putting failed him. Trey Vanderlaan said he hit out of too much sand.

Newton High’s two juniors competing in the 2016 Iowa Class 3A Boys’ State Golf Tournament had a rough day on the final round Saturday at Spring Valley Golf Course. Two rain delays didn’t help much either — a short 15-minute one to start the second day of play then one more than an hour long as most golfers had two holes remaining to play.

Reynolds had put himself in position to make a run at the 3A state individual championship with a 74 on the first day of play. He was in sixth, four strokes off the lead, after the opening 18 holes of the 36-hole state tournament.

At the least, he was playing for one of the seven state medals.

“I’m not sure what was going on today. I didn’t play as well, but my putting was really off,” Reynolds said after turning in his card with an 81 on Saturday.

Reynolds finished tied for 10th with a final goal of 155.

Vanderlaan sat in the middle of the field tied for 36th with an 84 following Friday’s first 18 holes. He shot an 87 on Saturday for a total of 171.

“It wasn’t a good day for me. I found the sand way too much and just struggled with some of the holes today,” Vanderlaan said. He finished tied for 41st with a 171.

No matter what the outcome, both Cardinal golfers said they had a great experience playing in their first high school state tournament. They are ready to work to return to the state tournament next year as seniors.

More on Reynolds and Vanderlaan’s state tournament play will be in Tuesday’s Newton Daily News.