Comet golfers edge Cadets by 1 stroke to win H-D Invite

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

HAMPTON — Charles City junior Carter Klatt says his driver is the best club in his bag.

But if he’s not careful, his other clubs may catch up.

“I’ve been working more on my small game,” Klatt said. “Making my third shot and my chips much better so I could leave it closer to the pin.

“I want less 2-putts and more 1-putts in my game.”

Such an addition by subtraction approach helped Klatt shoot a career 18-hole low score of 87 Saturday at the Hampton-Dumont Invitational held at Hampton Country Club.

Iowa Falls-Alden senior Ben Steinfeld was 1 shot better than Klatt for medalist honors, but overall the Comets were 1 shot better than the Cadets (361-362) to win the invite

Charles City senior Drew Mitchell (88), junior Theo Arndt (92) and senior Nate Lasher (94) rounded out the scoring for the Comets.

As for Klatt, after shooting a 44 through the first nine holes he had strong feeling he was going to finish even stronger.

“I knew my teammates were behind me, and I felt good today,” said Klatt, who’s shot a 43 on the latter nine … his best 9-hole score is a 42.

“I’m just playing with more confidence right now,” he said.

The final tally came down to the wire. With all the Comets in the clubhouse with their 361 score projected on a screen wall, it was a question of how much Iowa Falls-Alden’s final golfer would better the Cadets’ tentative score of 374.

The eventual 12-hole improvement provided by Kyle Arends’s fifth-place individual score (89) wasn’t enough.

The Comets’ best 18-hole team score thus far this season is a 351 shot at a tournament at Waverly Municipal Golf Course, where Charles City is scheduled to play a 9-hole meet today.

“But this is a par-74 course,” Charles City coach Dave Williams said, “so this is a tough place to shoot your best score.”

North Butler was among the six-team field and placed fourth (409) with sophomore Beau Thompson leading the way with a 92.

Hampton-Dumont Invitational

May 6

At Hampton Country Club

CHARLES CITY (361)

Carter Klatt 87, Drew Mitchell 88, Theo Arndt 92, Nate Lasher 94.

IOWA FALLS-ALDEN (362)

Ben Steinfeld 86, Kyle Arends 89, Danny Roach 93, Danny Roach 94.

FOREST CITY (375)

Jacob Wilson 91, Avery Busta 92, Jason Mielke 92, tyler Clouse 110.

NORTH BUTLER (409)

Beau Thompson 92, Isaac Trees 99, Tyler Merfeld 101, Rhett Lammers 117.

HAMPTON DUMONT (429)

Justin Kent 88, Samuel Wragge 107, Quinn Logan 109, Abe Scheideman 125.

WEST HANCOCK (458)

Seth Weiland 103, Keifter Carlson 114, Dalton Subjeet 115, Jon Hernandez 126.