Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

AMANA – If the WAMAC conference offered an official statistical category for lost balls during practice rounds Brandon McCarty just might be towards the top.

That’s not an indication of McCarty’s ability, the Clear Creek Amana sophomore has showed all season to be among the top players around.

The lost balls are almost entirely a biproduct of the Amana Colonies Golf Course where McCarty spends his practice time.

With its tree-lined fairways and prominent ponds and streams the course has a penchant for gobbling up balls and piling up strokes.

While it may cost McCarty a few extra practice balls playing at a challenging course like Amana Colonies has forced McCarty to sharpen his skills.

McCarty showed his polished skill set off on Monday earning first-team all-conference honors with a runner-up individual finish at the WAMAC Super Meet at the Amana Colonies Golf Course.

“It helps me as a golfer playing out here all the time because you just have to swing easy,” McCarty said. “On other courses that we play you can swing as hard as you can and hit it left or right a million miles and you’ll find it and you can still make par, out here that’s not the case.”

McCarty was one of only three golfers to break 80 on Monday, firing a five-over-par 77 on his home course.

Central DeWitt senior Rielly McGranahan shot a one-over 73 to win the individual title and Jacob Heit of Benton Community was third with a 79.

“It helps playing at home but I still have to keep the ball in play, I have to keep it in between the trees because if I spray it I will shoot in the 80s,” McCarty said. “I kept it in play today which helped a lot.”

Led by McGranahan, Central DeWitt had four players shoot 82 or better and shot a 316 to cruise to the team title by 19 strokes over runner-up West Delaware.

Ethan Yahr and Jack Stahle each earned second-team all-conference honors to help Solon finish in a third-place tie with Benton Community with a 347.

Yahr shot an 82 to place 11th and Stahle fired an 85 to finish 14th for the Spartans.

The 77 from McCarty helped Clear Creek Amana placed 14th with a 386.

After a 41 on the front nine that included four bogies and a double bogey McCarty fired an even-par 36 on the back nine.

“The back nine was good, the front nine I just couldn’t make putts like I usually do,” McCarty said. “I had over 30 putts today which I’m not happy with that. If I would have made a few more putts I would have been really happy with my round.”
McCarty was seven over par after 12 holes following a bogey on the par-four 12th but shot two under par on his final six holes.

Following three straight pars McCarty closed his round with birdies on two of his final three holes including one on the par-four 18th.

“I was a little made at myself on the front nine I knew I had to start rolling putts in,” McCarty said. “I finally started to make a couple in the final few holes and I finished strong.”

The runner-up finish on Monday continued a strong late season push for McCarty.

He shot a 74 at West Liberty last week and added a one-under 71 to win the Colfax-Mingo Invite on Saturday.

His score was higher on Monday but comparing the difficulty level of the courses McCarty liked the way he played.

“Honestly I would say 77 out here is about a 72 or 73 at most courses,” McCarty said. “It’s so much difference. Here you have to keep it inside the tree line and putt good. If I would have putted better I could have shot 72 or 73.

WAMAC Super Meet

At Amana Colonies Golf Course

Team scores – 1. Central DeWitt 316; 2. West Delaware 335; 3. Solon 347; 4. Benton Community 347; 5. Williamsburg 348; 6. Mount Vernon 354; 7. Western Dubuque 362; 8. Marion 366; 9. Maquoketa 371; 10. Anamosa 374; 11. Independence 375; 12. Vinton-Shellsburg 378; 13. South Tama 382; 14. Clear Creek Amana 386; 15. Dyersville Beckman 387; 16. Center Point-Urbana 401.

Individual Leaders – 1. Rielly McGranahan (CD) 37-36 – 73; 2. Brandon McCarty (CCA) 41-36 – 77; 3. Jacob Heit (BC) 40-39 – 79; 4. Nick Lengwin (MV) 36-44 – 80; 5. Drew Eden (CD) 40-40 – 80; 6. Tanner Steffens (CD) 39-42 – 81; 7. Brandon Larson (WD) 42-39 – 81; 8. Aman Egge (ANA) 41-40 – 81; 9. Tucker Kinney (CD) 39-43 – 82; 10. Dylan Burns 43-39 – 82; 11. Ethan Yahr (SOL) 41-41 – 82; 12. Dylan McAleer 46-38 – 84; 13. Ryan Fangmann 42-42 – 84; 14. Jack Stahle (SOL) 41-44 – 85; 15. Gavin Soppe (WD) 43-42 – 85; 16. Tyler Langel (WD) 39-46 – 85; 17. Caiden Atienza 43-42 – 85; 18. Gage Blythe (WB) 40-46 – 86; 19. Ryan Cavett 42-44 – 86; 20. Stuart Tiedemann 45-42 – 87; 21. Mike Roth (WDB) 44-43 – 87; 22. Spencer Touro (BC) 43-45 – 88; 23. Zach Vig (MV) 49-40 – 89; 24. Brayden Smith (ST) 47-42 – 89; 25. Jax Stelzer (WDB) 47-42 – 89; 26. Jacob Brainerd 47-42 – 89; 27. Brady Johnson (MAR) 44-45 – 89.

Solon (347) – Ethan Yahr 41-41 -82; Jack Stahle 41-44 – 85; Spencer Wolfe 42-48 – 90; Blake Newell 47-43 – 90; Lucas TePoel 47-46 – 93; Joe Stahle 51-44 – 95.

Clear Creek Amana (386) – Brandon McCarty 41-36 – 77; Graham Sandersfeld 49-49 – 98; Ryan Navara 50-52 – 102; Isaac Quinn 58-51 – 109; Ethan Fairholm 55-55 – 110; Kaden Gisleson 54-60 – 114.