Hawks golfers' story still being written

One of the most fun days of chasing news last year was following the Central Lee boys' golf team at the state golf meet at Gates Park Golf Course in Waterloo.
We’re looking for a repeat of that two-day event this year. The Hawks are off to a great start to the 2026 spring season and I have yet to find anyone that can tell me that Tuesday’s match at Danville has ever been duplicated.
All six of the Central Lee boys' golf team members shot under 80 for the first time in Mike Ungerer’s almost four decades at the helm in Donnellson.
I wasn’t able to get to the meet, but when I saw the scorecard and all the activity on social media, I immediately started asking people when was the last time that feat had occurred.
Ungerer said quickly that he couldn’t remember that happening ever in his 40 years. Last year the Hawks had four players sub-80, but one player shot an 81. And that event caught a lot of people’s attention. Then this year. Carson Morrison led the way with a 74, just two over par. Carter Jones came in with a 76, followed by Caleb Larson’s 77, and Kaden Swan’s 78. Mylan Lowenberg and Carver Hayes each shot a 79 in the win.
It’s a fond memory of mine standing with Central Lee parents and administration as the boys tee’d off to the north off the first tee-box.
At different times around the course I hung with former AD Wes McGraw, Dr. Andy Crozier, the Carter Jones' family, Caleb Larson’s father, and coach Ungerer when he wasn’t cruising around in the golf cart catching lightning in a bottle.
I was standing on a small incline last year watching Caleb Larson’s approach on Hole No. 3 at Gates Park. His dad was slightly down the hill and to the right. Caleb bounced a shot up about 10 yards off the green, onto the northern sloped green, and rolled it right into the hole for a birdie. He then hung out and tended the flag for the other golfers in his foursome. I talked with Caleb after the round where the Hawks captured 8th place in Class 2A. He’s a humble kid that just loves the game.
The Hawks are currently ranked 9th overall in 2A, but I’m not sure any other team has had all six players come in under 80. Coach Ungerer would probably tell you rankings don’t mean anything because golf is about the day of the event and the shortness of memories.
But Central Lee ended 2025 just about where they should’ve been. All the kids from that team were genuinely happy with finishing as a top 10 team in the state in 2A. But I’m not satisfied with thinking that this feat of having all six golfers shoot 79 or better was just cool. I talked with John Bohnenkamp, who’s been around sports longer than I’ve been alive, and I’m older than him. John said it’s probably happened before, but finding someone with that information will be tough. The state record book only reflects state championship and runner-up information, along with individual records at state meets.
I emailed the Iowa High School Athletic Association, but no one has gotten back with me.
So I’m just going to assume that it’s a very, very rare occurrence and something that needs to settle in a bit with the readership.
I’m terrible at golf. I am. I can admit it, but I love the challenge of the game and I love the social aspect of the game. But in the 10 years of Pen City Current and the multitude of other years at other papers and covering sports in other capacities, I’ve never heard of a team having every single golfer on a team’s meet roster come in under 80.
Ungerer has said multiple times that any player on that team can medal on any given day. Sometimes coaches just talk that way because they want to showcase their players and build confidence… and sometimes just to feel good about things.
But with this Hawks’ team, that’s a legitimacy, and another great thing is four of them still have another season after this. Only Caleb Larson and Mylan Lowenberg are seniors. The other four – Carter Jones, Carver Hayes, Carson Morrison, and Kaden Swan are juniors this year. This team can take a run at the top teams in the state this year, and again next year.
I asked Coach Ungerer how he coaches a team like this that has so much talent in an individual game and he said simply that he tells them to focus on certain parts of their game. But I have a feeling that most of these kids already know that. Now it becomes about mental toughness and sticking to the mantra that your best shot is your next one.
If you’re not following this team, you should be. Golf is a fickle and precise game and anyone who watches and plays knows that it can fall off the rail at any time.
Simply playing the odds, two or three of these guys are gonna shine regularly and it can be any of them at any time. So having them all shine at the same time may not be an irregularity.
And speaking of irregularity, the Old Fort Madison Preservation’s Jail and Bail program raised more than $10,000 for efforts to rehab the old museum on the city’s riverfront. Having former Democrat Editor Robin Delaney knock on my door and hand me a subpoena charging me with keeping the Pen City – Current, was both flattering and highly irregular – but that’s Beside the Point.
Chuck Vandenberg is editor and co-owner of Pen City Current and can be reached at Charles.V@PenCityCurrent.com.