Washington’s Dalton Meyers lines up for a putt Saturday at Washington’s Golf and Country Club. Photo by KCII’s Nate Gonner

With sunny skies, calm winds, and home course advantage, the Washington Demon golf team put together their best team performance of the season. The Demons welcomed boys’ golf teams from Columbus, Marion, and Mount Pleasant to participate in the annual Washington Invitational Golf tournament, and Washington walked away with the team title with a score of 315.

The Demons were led on the course by freshman Dalton Myers, who carded a 76 at his home course. He finished the tournament third overall, and it was the third straight meet Myers shot the lowest score for Washington. Junior Derek Anding finished three shots behind Myers, completing the tournament as the fourth best golfer.

Demon boys’ golf coach Mark Berhow says he was pleased with the performance of his top two golfers, “What our team needs is for those two guys to be consistent.” Berhow said, “Even Derek (Anding) admits there are still some shots left out on the course, shooting a 79. He needs to be more around 75, 76 and that is doable.”

Berhow was also happy with the performances of sophomores Tanner Coleman and Noah Enfield, who tied for fifth place with a score of 80.

The medalist of the Washington Invitational was split between Columbus senior Chase Finke and Marion senior Ian Kelly, who both shot a four over 74 for the tournament.

Marion finished the event in 337 strokes to take second place. Mount Pleasant came in third place with 344 strokes and Columbus rounded out the team scoring with 354 strokes.

Washington is gearing up for the most important week of their season to this point. The Demons will travel to the Fairfield Golf and Country Club twice in a 24 hour time frame, playing a triangular against Keokuk and Fairfield this afternoon prior to tomorrow’s Southeast Conference meet Tuesday morning. Berhow admits it’s a short turnaround but says he couldn’t have planned this better, “I thought of playing Thursday, the week before, but this way you can see how the greens are rolling and how everything is set.” Berhow said, “I think it can only help us, having the 18 hole Invite and playing this close to the conference tournament should give us an advantage.”

Today’s  triangular tees off at 4 p.m. and the Southeast Conference Tournament tees off at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Fairfield Golf and Country Club.

Columbus’s Chase Finke and Washington’s Derek Anding play in the same grouping at Saturday’s Washington Invitational. Finke tied for the tournament’s medalists, shooting a four under 74 for the tournament.