Newton girls golf finishes fifth in tough field at Hunters Ridge

MARION — Newton’s girls golf team played a tough tournament against several tough teams on a tough golf course on Tuesday.

The Cardinals finished with a 383 and took fifth in the 14-team field at Hunters Ridge Golf Course.

Led by the top two individual finishers, West Des Moines Valley won the tournament with a 323. Pleasant Valley (350), Cedar Rapids Washington (367) and Cedar Falls (375) all finished ahead of the Cardinals, who edged Bettendorf (385) by two strokes.

“This meet had some very tough competition on a tough course,” Newton girls golf coach Ashley Kahler said. “The back nine has a lot of water and no mow on almost every hole. We did take some penalty strokes from hazards that we need to do a better job with.”

Rylee Heryford led the Cardinals with an eighth-place finish as she shot an 83. Abby Price tied for 13th with an 89. The other two counting scores came from Bekah Vasseau (100) and Marin Pettigrew (111). Ella Price (130) had a non-counting score.

Valley’s Paige Hoffman was meet medalist with a 72 and Saffire Sayre was the runner-up with a 73.

The rest of the 14-team field included Cedar Rapids Prairie (393), host Linn-Mar (394), Johnston (397), Cedar Rapids Kennedy (423), Cedar Rapids Xavier (432), Cedar Rapids Jefferson (443), Ankeny Centennial (449) and Waukee (464).