Blomme, Peters take home 2023 Iowa Junior Amateur titles
Bettendorf’s Maura Peters (above right) and Bettendorf’s Ethan Blomme (above left) took home the titles at the Iowa Junior Amateur Championship contested at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls.
Peters (left), a future University of Iowa Hawkeye golfer, led the girl’s field from start to finish, carding rounds of 73-72-72 to total (+1) 217 and win by five strokes.
“I knew I had a little bit of wiggle room but at the same time I wanted to make sure I was still performing as well as I could,” Peters said. “I definitely think my putting was where I was able to save the most strokes.”
Great lag putting made for a ‘pretty stress-free’ round and Peters was able to keep the momentum rolling with key putts throughout the round.
Ames’ Eden Lohrbach finished runner-up in the girls’ division with (+6) 222, followed by Sumner’s Chloe Bolte with (+10) 226. Bolte’s even third-round 72 was key to moving up the leaderboard.
On the boy’s side, Blomme (right), who recently qualified for the USGA U.S. Junior Amateur, overcame a one-stroke deficit in his final round to win by two. With three under-par rounds of 69-67-69, Blomme finished at (-11) 205 despite back spasms which flared up on his final day.
Two Advils allowed Blomme to stay ‘in attack mode’. Blomme explained,
“Especially around the greens, I was just dying every single putt in the hole. Just no mistakes, no three putts,” he said.
A strong iron showing gave Blomme multiple tap-in birdies during his final round, helping him to secure his win.
Ankeny’s Drew Hensen finished second in the boys’ tournament with (-9) 207, followed by Gilman’s Cody Weaver at (-7) 209.
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A lot of factors play into a round of golf, and not all of them have to do with hitting the ball. Peters is a strong supporter of Target fruit snacks, while Blomme listens to Drake and Stevie Wonder before his round to “take a little stress off.”