The fate of his season could have come down to any one stroke at the district meet, but North Union’s Drew Henderson won’t mind the close call, as the Warrior junior punched his ticket to the class 1A boys state golf tournament for the second consecutive year.
Henderson tied for fifth place with an 18 hole score of 79 on Monday at the district meet hosted by Gehlen Catholic from the Willow Creek Golf Course. According to the Iowa High School Athletic Association rulebook, the top two individuals on non-state qualifying teams from each district will advance to the state tournament. More than two individuals in a district can qualify in the event of a tie, a rule that became very relevant on Monday.
The top four golfers in the district were already on state-qualifying teams, but Henderson would tie for fifth place with Lucas Baker of Alta-Aurelia and Owen Demoss of GTRA, meaning that those three would all individually qualify for the class 1A state tournament. It also means that one more miscue by Henderson would have resulted in missing out on a trip to state.
Henderson was unsure of whether a 79 would be enough to qualify for state when he turned his scorecard in.
After a breakout sophomore season in 2024, one that saw Henderson finish individually as the Top of Iowa West runner-up and ultimately place 9th at a 1A state tournament that was cut one day short by inclement weather, Henderson continued to cement his status as one of the top players in class 1A in 2025.
Leading into the district meet, Henderson had once again placed second at the Top of Iowa West meet to Austin Stene of Lake Mills, then followed that by winning the sectional meet hosted by St. Edmond at the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course with a dominant score of 68, nine strokes ahead of the next nearest competitor.
Despite the great weeks leading into the district meet, Henderson found himself behind the eight ball early, shooting a 42 over the front nine while battling cold and damp conditions. Henderson felt a few of his early putts weren’t dropping.
Henderson was able to regroup and look at the back nine as a clean slate.
An early birdie set the tone for a strong back nine, as Henderson recorded a score of 37 over the final nine holes to get back in state contention.
In an email sent to local media, North Union Head Coach Chris Hansen talked about letting Henderson work through the early trouble, saying, “Drew had a tough start to the round today shooting a 42 on the front nine. I remember talking with him at a few points in the early part of the round trying to get him to settle his nerves a bit and trying to work through what wasn’t feeling right. He told me he had it under control, and so I left his side and let him focus on his game on the back nine, where he ended up shooting a 37”
Hansen credited Henderson’s mindset for being able to fight through adversity.
“The clubhouse was tense, and we knew Drew would be close. He ended up tying for 5th place with two other athletes, both of whom qualified for state as well. One more stroke on the scorecard would have cut his season short, but Drew has a way of fighting through tough situations and overcoming adversity.”
The North Union junior enters the state tournament for a second year in a row with big goals after finishing in the top ten last season. Even with that, step one for Henderson is remembering to have fun and be relaxed.
The class 1A tournament takes place on Tuesday, May 27th and Wednesday, May 28th at the South Hills Golf Course in Waterloo.
Henderson is eyeing a state medal after narrowly missing out on one last season.
Statistically, the North Union junior has put himself amongst top company in class 1A this season. Nobody in class 1A has recoded a better 9 hole score than Henderson’s season best of 32, while his 18 hole low of 68 is tied for the fourth best in class 1A. Henderson ranks eighth in class 1A for average nine hole score and fifth for average 18 hole score.
Day one of the state tournament gets underway at 10:30 A.M. on May 27th, while day two begins at 9 A.M. on May 28th.
