For the second time in three years, the Washington Demon boys’ golf team is headed to state. Washington won the Class 3A district tournament at Stone Creek Golf Club in Williamsburg yesterday, posting a team score of 295 strokes that was 19 less than second-place Pella and 26 better than third-place Grinnell.
The Demons also produced the top two individual scorers of the day, as senior Roman Roth and sophomore Rajan Roth each shot a three-under-par round of 68 across 18 holes.
Roman Roth piled up a tournament-high six birdies on his way to his 11th round of the season that was under par or better to keep his chase of back-to-back individual state titles alive, but Rajan Roth matched him by scoring an eagle and three birdies against just two bogeys.
Perhaps the most fascinating competition of the day took place at the very end, as the Roth brothers squared off in a playoff for meet medalist honors. It took four holes, but Rajan Roth’s par on the fifth would be enough to get him his second victory of the season and a district championship.
Afterwards, Roth told KCII Sports how he felt his winning round went and how he got to relax while playing a few extra holes to get himself an individual victory.
“It was pretty good today,” Roth said. “A few puts didn’t drop, but I hit some solid shots out there. It was really fun just to play as a team and know [in the playoff] that we won, so we can compete in the playoff, and [I] end up winning it, so that was nice.”
In addition to the Roths, Teague Mayer shot a seven-over 78 to finish ninth overall, while fellow senior Luke Beenblossom fired an 87 and sophomores Drew Conrad and Carson Brown posted rounds of 81 and 83, respectively.
After missing out on a trip to state last season by mere strokes, Demons head coach Collin Stark says his team had been building for a year to this moment.
“Right from the very beginning,” Stark said, “and, honestly, it started even last year, when, unfortunately, we weren’t able to go as a team by two strokes, that’s just driven them to put in the time, and you can just tell, just from last year to this year, just how much better each one got individually better, and that obviously helps out team scores, and this is definitely worth the time. This is why you put in the work, and they’ve earned another trip down to state.”
Washington wins its 10th event of the season and, in doing so, secures a place at the Class 3A state championships for the third time since 2018. The Demons will now compete in a two-day tournament at Veenker Memorial Golf Course in Ames starting Monday.