Bangasser, Spartans win big at home sectional meet

Jake Bangasser never lets a bad swing or two get him down. Fresh off of a triple bogey on hole five of the back nine at a Class 1A sectional meet Friday afternoon, the Grundy Center junior took a deep breath, relaxed and played one over golf the rest of the way on his home course en route to a score of 81 and a team title that will allow the Spartans to advance to districts in Mason City.
           
“He can put that behind him, and he’ll find a way,” Grundy Center coach Dennis Dirks said, relaying the story of another meet in which Bangasser shot five over on his first three holes and rebounded to finish with an 18-hole score of 77. “He says, ‘I’ll be okay.’”
           
Bangasser shot a 39 on the front nine and 42 on the back (nine over par) to earn medalist honors, and save for one ball going out of bounds, he played mistake free golf for the first half of the meet.
           
“If I could just avoid the big numbers, the number would’ve been a lot better today, but you have those every now and then,” he said. “It’s good to get them out now rather than next week, when it’s really going to matter.”
 
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