Warriors place fifth in Iowa Wesleyan Tiger Classic
By: Matt Oliver
FORT MADISON – The Waldorf University men’s golf team placed fifth with a 325-stroke total in Monday’s Iowa Wesleyan Tiger Classic.
Battling in a competitive field, the Warriors finished 12 strokes out of first place.
“It was a pretty good field,” Waldorf coach Mark Clouse said. “I think the guys are kind of disappointed in their performance. They know they can do much better, so we’ll try to work on some of the weaknesses that we’re seeing on the golf course. We’ve just got to put it together.”
Senior Nick Boswell and junior Thomas O’Rourke tied for seventh, turning in the top finishes for the Warriors with 18-hole scores of 79 on the par-72 layout at Scheaffer Memorial Golf Course. Boswell competed as an individual while O’Rourke provided to Waldorf’s team score.
Junior Hugo Becerra tied for 11th for the Warriors, carding an 80. Senior Austin Heeren tied for 17th as he fired a round of 82. Competing as an individual, freshman Zabdiel Flores tied for 25th with an 83. Freshman Kole Hallmark contributed Waldorf’s final team score, tying for 31st with an 84.
Junior Chad Hein and senior Rick Young also competed for the Warriors as they tied for 38th behind 87-stroke finishes.
Waldorf’s low and high scores were separated by eight strokes. Shaving a few strokes off at every position in the lineup would’ve made a significant difference in a tightly-contested field.
“That seems to be the story right through the lineup,” Clouse said. “They’re not far off, so I know we’ll see them turn in a good event coming up. It’s good to see there are lots of bright spots within that. We just need to have a few more putts drop in order to have the team score where it needs to be.”
Hannibal-LaGrange University won the team championship with a 313-stroke total to edge North Iowa Area Community College (315) by two strokes in the 10-team tournament. NIACC is ranked No. 17 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II poll. NCAA Division III teams Loras College (320) and Iowa Wesleyan University (323) took third and fourth, respectively. Waldorf (325) and Clarke University (336) finished ahead of NCAA Division III programs Blackburn College (341) and Illinois College (345). Hannibal-LaGrange’s B Team (351) and NCAA Division III’s Eureka College (482) completed the team standings.
The individual title went to Hannibal-LaGrange’s Calvin Anthenat, who shot a 74 to finish one stroke ahead of NIACC’s Sam Steinwand.
Waldorf resumes the season in this weekend’s Wartburg Invitational at Waverly. The two-day tournament begins on Friday at 9 a.m. at Prairie Links Golf Club.
“It’s a golf course that some of our team has seen a few times, so we should be comfortable going into that venue,” Clouse said. “We just need to take these few days before Friday to try to polish off some of our issues, so we can come ready to play.”