| May 3, 2003
(Release courtesy of Larry Happel, SID, Central College)
PELLA, IOWA . . . Central College
survived a rocky fourth round at the challenging Bos Landen Golf
Resort to wrap up a record 25th Iowa Conference men’s golf championship
Saturday.
Meanwhile, Mike Martin became
the first Simpson College golfer since Jim Klein in 1970 to take
league medalist honors. He shot a five-over-par 77 to pull away
from a third-round tie with Buena Vista University’s Jeff
Halverson. Martin finished at 70-74-77-76-297 for a five-stroke
margin over Pete Weber of Loras College and Jordan
Ryan of Luther College. Ryan, shot 74-74-75-79-302 and
won a playoff over Weber who finished with 79-70-77-76-302. Halverson
was fourth at 74-71-75-83-303 and Adam Luehmann of
Loras College was fifth at 79-72-75-78-304. Champion Central’s top
finisher was Kyle Matzen who shot 76-77-71-81-305. He took sixth
place, winning a playoff with Wartburg’s Kevin Ault,
who had 73-73-81-78-305. The top 10 finishers received all-conference
recognition.
The first two rounds of the 72-hole tournament
were played at Gates Park Golf Course in Waterloo April 25-26 before
finishing with 36 holes at the Bos Landen Golf Resort in Pella Friday
and Saturday.
Bos Landen was Saturday’s winner as the rugged
course proved difficult even for host Central, which uses it as
its home course. After shooting 307 Friday, Central skied to 327
Saturday in pleasant, but breezy conditions. The Dutch saw their
13-shot third-round lead melt to four over second-place Luther,
which shot 318. Central finished at 298-300-307-327-1232 while Luther
was at 306-301-311-318-1236. Loras was third at 317-293-311-319-1240
while Wartburg College had Saturday’s best round and claimed fourth
place at 308-299-319-316-1242.
Central coach Charlie Estabrook is
impressed with his league opponents. “My hat’s off to Luther,” he
said. “(The Norse) didn’t give up and really played well today.
Our conference has really become a strong golf conference.”
While Saturday’s round wasn’t one of his squad’s
best efforts, Estabrook wasn’t complaining.
“I’m very honored to bring home title number 25,” said Estabrook.
“It means a lot to me and to this program. Doc (the late Dr. Norman)
Ryerson started the great golf tradition we have here many years
ago. I know he’s upstairs watching and is proud of what we’re doing.”
Complete results for the 2003 IIAC Men's Golf Championship
are here.
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