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MUSCATINE, Iowa – The Muscatine boys’ golf team made a strong first impression Friday at its own invitational.

With four sophomores, a junior and a freshman in their lineup, the Muskies kicked off their season with a third-place showing in the 12-team tournament at the Municipal Golf Course.

“This is a great building block for us,” sophomore Josh Anderson said after Muscatine finished with a 311 total – six strokes behind winner Iowa City West. “We’re young, and we’re going to be good this year and next year.

“A lot of these other teams are counting on juniors and seniors.”

Anderson and sophomore Michael Canfield each had a 76 to pace the Muskies. Junior Austin Young posted a 77 and sophomore Drake Decker rounded out the top four with an 82.

Led by freshman Dominic Muzzin’s 75, Iowa City West had five players shoot in the 70s for the victory. Pleasant Valley finished second with a 307.

“Fourth place was our goal,” Muskies coach Jerry Teel said. “I knew P.V. and one of the Iowa City schools would be good, but for us to have three scores in the 70s was fantastic.

“I think it’s going to be a good year for us. We’ll keep getting better and better.”

Anderson, Canfield and Young were on the varsity squad last year for the Muskies, but they’ve lowered their scores considerably since last October.

Muscatine shot rounds of 332 and 340 at the Mississippi Athletic Conference meet and a 338 at districts last year. In fact, the Muskies didn’t have a player break 80 at the district meet at Geneva Country Club.

“We had to count a score in the high 80s or low 90s last year,” Teel said. “There weren’t many meets where we put four rounds in the 80s together in an 18-hole meet, and it’s the same kids. They’re just getting better.”

Anderson was somewhat surprised by his 76. He had three birdies and seven bogeys, and missed a handful of short putts.

“I couldn’t putt at all today,” he said. “I felt like I played terrible, but it’s pretty good when you felt you played terrible and your score is still 76. I scrambled pretty well.”

Canfield, who tied Anderson for the best qualifying score in team tryouts, birdied the par-3 8th and par-4 14th to go along with six bogeys. He hit seven of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens.

“I was really pleased with the round,” he said. “There are some things I could have done better, but I made a couple of nice putts.”

Young birdied the par-5 10th, but followed with bogeys at 11, 12 and 15 along with a double-bogey at 17. However, he responded with a 1-over 37 on the front side.

Clinton junior Jeremy Miller was the meet’s medalist with a 1-over 73.

Iowa City West junior Michael Whetstone produced the shot of the tournament, recording a hole-in-one at the par-3 13th. Whetstone, who shot a 79, used a 6-iron to ace the water hole.

“One kid in my group didn’t believe me that it went in,” Whetstone said. “I was just in shock.

“When I hit it, I knew it was heading right for the pin, but I didn’t know if I had the right distance or not.”

The Muskies are off until Aug. 25 when they travel to Bettendorf for a meet with Davenport Central, Bettendorf and Cedar Rapids Washington.

Team standings — 1. Iowa City West 305; 2. Pleasant Valley 307; 3. Muscatine 311; 4. Bettendorf 315; 5. Davenport Central 318; 5. Iowa City High 318; 5. Clinton 318; 8. Davenport North 322; 9. Burlington 328; 10. Davenport Assumption 331; 11. North Scott 335; 12. Davenport West 336.

Top individuals — 1. Jeremy Miller (Clinton) 37-76-73; 2. Josh Beghtol (Bettendorf) 40-34-74; 3. Dominic Muzzin (Iowa City West) 37-78-75; 4. Adam Bugos (Assumption) 35-40-75; 5. Ryan Maske (Iowa City High) 75.

Iowa City West (305) - Muzzin 37-78-75; Chet Flaum 40-36-76; Ryan Shields 39-38-77; Brandon Cullen 41-36-77.

Pleasant Valley (307) - Spencer Payne 39-37-76; Ian Freemine 39-38-77; Evan Vandemore 37-40-77; Keega Bohn 40-37-77.

Muscatine (311) - Michael Canfield 38-38-76; Josh Anderson 38-38-76; Austin Young 37-40-77; Drake Decker 41-41-82; Tyler Lothspeich 42-42-84; Tyler Askren 44-42-86.

Bettendorf (315) - Beghtol 40-34-74; Jackson Hemberger 42-36-78; Sam Ehrlich 42-39-81; Dan Robinson 46-36-82.

Davenport Central (318) - Mike Maller 38-39-77; Matt Schlueter 39-40-79; Sean Carter 40-41-81; Peter Kaufmann 40-41-81.

Iowa City High (318) - Maske 37-38-75; Ryan Duncan 38-40-78; Grant Simpson 44-37-81; Andrew Hein 42-42-84.

Clinton (318) - Miller 37-36-73; Christian Rowen 40-37-77; Tony Balk 40-44-84; Matt Gray 42-42-84. 

Davenport North (322) - Owen Bell 39-38-77; Scott Bosco 40-38-78; Nate Burgess 44-38-82; Garrett Rowley 45-40-85.

Burlington (328) - Chad Hatch 40-37-77; Scott Eibes 41-39-80; Nick Gustafson 42-43-85; Jeremy Swink 45-41-86.

Assumption (331) - Bugos 35-40-75; Mitch Wilson 42-42-84; Michael Becker 45-40-85; Elliott Duax 45-42-87. 

North Scott (335) - Eric Larssen 42-38-80; Bobby Wolfe 40-41-81; Daniel Chavez 42-43-85; Brett Thiering 47-42-89.

Davenport West (336) - Andy Palmer-Ode 40-40-80; Tony Reinart 44-38-82; Chris Wolfram 44-42-86; Drake Denger 48-40-88.