Sep. 15—MARSHALLTOWN — Elmwood Country Club was in peak tournament condition on Thursday, giving the Ottumwa High School boys golf team a tough test competing in the Joe August Invitational.

Paced by a top-10 finish from Chase Thompson, the Bulldogs posted a team score of 352. Thompson finished ninth overall after firing a seven-over-par round of 77.

"We talked before the round started and knew that (Elmwood) was going to be the nicest course we've played all year, but also the hardest course we've played all year," Ottumwa head boys golf coach Kyle Creamer said. "They actually have a big tournament called The Classic that they're hosting at the course this weekend, so they had it all tricked out and slicked up for that. It was playing really difficult.

"We didn't really know what to expect coming in score-wise. We just tried to do the best we could and learn a lot along the way."

Ottumwa finished eighth overall out of 14 teams, beating Urbandale by six strokes and Iowa Alliance rival Mason City by seven. Marshalltown, the host of the tournament, brought home the team championship in a close battle with Ankeny Centennial beating the Jaguars by just two shots with a team score of 305.

Milo Canny produced one a career-low 86 for Ottumwa, finishing with the team's second-lowest score in the tournament highlighted by a birdie on the 485-yard par-5 seventh hole. Canny added four pars during the round to finish 35th overall out of the 82 golfers that finished the tournament.

"We've discussed with Milo all year about avoiding the big numbers," Creamer said. "We know he's not going to birdie every hole or par every hole. He's still learning and still growing. He just has to avoid those big scores. That's what he did today."

Dominick Rath posted a score of 92 for Ottumwa, finishing 50th overall, while Logan Storto rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs with a round of 97. Stephen Brinegar posted a round of 107 while Gavin Monaghan posted a 109.

"You just had to feel out the course," Creamer said. "The greens and fairways were pristine and different from what we're used to. You had to feel out the first couple holes to figure out what you could and couldn't do. That course really can exploit your weaknesses. That was good for us to see that and see what we need to work on."

Ottumwa will be back on the course on Monday at the Indianola Country Club as part of the Steve Spray Invitational starting at 10 a.m. The Bulldogs return to central Iowa on Wednesday to compete in the Southeast Polk Invitational at the Cooper Creek Golf Club starting at 9 a.m.

"We wanted to get in as many challenging course as we could this season," Creamer said. "These courses coming up should be even more challenging than our district course will be. That will be good for the guys preparing themselves going forward."