Comets Carson Gallup and Trevor White advance to golf districts

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CLEAR LAKE — Depending on the group you play with, “mulligans” are sometimes allowed in golf.

Prep golfers are usually denied such a luxury, especially during the postseason.

But Carson Gallup probably wanted a “nine-hole” mulligan after the first time around Veteran Memorial Park’s course during Monday’s Class 3A Boys Golf Sectional. And in essence, he got one.

“I didn’t think I had much of a chance,” the Charles City freshman said of his prospects of extending his breakout varsity season after shooting a 41 the first time around the nine-hole course in a meet that played 18.

To note, Gallup’s score at that point wasn’t that bad. But a projected 82 would have left him short of moving on to districts as an individual.

“I just had to settle down and keep the ball on the fairway,” Gallup said of his second-lap approach, “and make my putts … though I couldn’t get all of them to fall.”

Shooting a 1-over 37 the second time around, Gallup’s combined score of 78 was 1 stroke shy of Waverly-Shell Rock’s Hogan Hansen, who 2-putted on the ninth green while concluding play and hanging on to medalist honors.

Hansen, who had shot one of the state’s lowest 18-hole scores earlier this season (68), helped the Go-Hawks win the sectional with a 325 team score, 3 strokes ahead of runner-up Independence.

Both teams advanced to the Class 3A District Tournament, Monday at Oneota Golf Course in Decorah.

Charles City finished in fifth place with a season-low 18-hole team score of 335. Though they were 7 strokes shy of advancing as a team with Clear Lake (332) and Hampton-Dumont-CAL (334) finishing ahead of them, the Comets will have multiple representatives at districts.

Comet senior Trevor White, a district qualifier last season, carded an 80 after sinking a 7-foot putt for par on the aforementioned ninth hole. It proved to be a crucial putt as White finished in a four-way tie with HDC’s Ruben Salinas, Oelwein’s Brandon Tournier and Independence’s Caden Larson for the third-best score.

By way of a first-handicap-hole tiebreaker, White was awarded third place as well as a district individual berth.

Though Comets Hunter Sullivan, who shot a career-low 84, and Jaxon Houdek, who capped Charles City’s season-best score with a 93, both were stopped short of the districts as well as the  rest of the team, the Comets still have one more postseason meet to play — the Northeast Iowa Conference Meet which they will host Friday at Cedar Ridge Golf Course.

Oelwein (343), Crestwood (357) and Decorah (362) rounded out the team scoring at the sectional meet.