April 28, 2007

ASBURY, IOWA . . . For the second time in as many years, the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) men’s golf Champion finished with the top-four individuals. This year, it is Central College that had the top finishers and placed all five of its golfers in the top-11. The Dutch finished with a 72-hole Championship score of 1191.

Individual Medalist Andy Petersen posted his highest round of the Tournament (a 77) on Saturday at The Meadows Golf Club but still won the title by nine strokes over teammate Isaac Rodenberg. Petersen is Central’s 11th Medalist, more than any other Iowa Conference school, and its first since 2002. Rodenberg shot the final round’s top round with an even-par 72, to move from fourth-place into second and end with a 299.

Joel Winters finished one stroke behind Rodenberg (77-71-75-77—300) and two strokes ahead of Brett Meyer (76-74-74-78—302). Simpson’s David Combs finished fifth (78-75-74-76—303). Rounding out the top-10, and receiving All-Conference recognition were Luther’s Ben Hanson (78-75-75-78—306), Buena Vista’s Wally Byrne (80-76-77-76—309), Loras’ Mark Dolphin (75-81-77-77—310), Buena Vista’s Tim Murphy (80-76-82-73—311) and Luther’s Tom Lantzy (79-77-77-79—312).

As in each of the previous three rounds, Central posted the day’s low score with a 304, one stroke better than Buena Vista that used its 305 to jump into a second-place finish with a four round score of 1240 and was the only other school with all five golfers in the top-20. Central’s 49-stroke victory is the largest margin of victory since the IIAC went to a 72-hole Championship in 1991. The previous mark was 40 strokes by Central in 1996.

Simpson struggled on Saturday posting a 327 and fell to a third-place finish (at 1251) after sitting second following each of the previous three rounds. Luther finished with a 1254, followed by Wartburg (1270) to round out the top-five.

With its IIAC-record 26th Conference men’s golf title, Central has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in Indiana beginning May 15. It will be the Dutch’s 27th NCAA appearance.

Coach of the Year: Central coach Charlie Estabrook was named IIAC Coach of the Year after leading the Dutch to five top-two finishes in five tournaments this spring, including the Conference title. It is the fifth time since 1998 and first since 2003, that he has received the honor.

Complete men’s golf Championship results are here.

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