Kansas City, MO. – Men's golf punched their ticket into the NJCAA DI National Championship on Tuesday! Iowa Western placed in a tie for fourth place at the Central District Championship hosted at Tiffany Greens Golf Club in Kansas City. The event consisted of thirty-six holes on Monday, April 29th with the final eighteen holes contested on Tuesday, April 30th.
Iowa Western got off to a great start in the opening round of the tournament, and found themselves in third place after posting a team score of (293) which was only two strokes back of second place Hutchinson CC. The Reivers were led in round number one by Ryan Lingelbach who fired a three under par (69), Ethan Smith posted an even par round of (72), Henry Kosmicki and Matt Dennis each were four over par (76).
Round two saw the Reivers fall back on the leaderboard after getting off to a slow start. They would eventually close round two with a team score of (307). Leading the way for the Reivers during that round was Calen Bishop who posted a one over par (73). He was helped with Kosmicki who posted another (76). Smith would post (77) and rounding out the team scoring for Iowa Western in round two was Lingelbach with an (81).
During the third and final round, the Reivers started off great. Iowa Western found themselves sitting at even par as a team through thirteen holes before giving up shots over their remaining five holes to close with a team total of (301). Bishop led the way again with a one over par (73), Kosmicki would post a three over par round of (75), Smith came in at four over (76), and Dennis would complete his round at fiver over par (77).
Calen Bishop would finish the tournament just outside the top ten individually, finishing t13. Smith finished t15, Kosmicki t21, Lingelbach t24, Nick Slobbe playing as an individual would finish t27, Magnus Nielsen also competing as an individual finished t34, Dennis would finish at t37, and Trystan Du Plessis competing as an individual would finish at t39. Seventy-one competitors from eleven different schools competed in the championship.
Overall, it would be good enough for a fourth-place tie in the team standings and punch their ticket to the National Championship. "Obviously we did not play to our capabilities down here this week, the guys would tell you that. But we survived and advanced to the National Championship. We will go home, regroup, and evaluate the things that we struggled with. We are excited for the opportunity to go compete against the best DI Junior Colleges in the country, and we will be ready to go", said Iowa Western Coach Ryan Norman.
The team will head to Hobbs, NM and Rockwind Community Links for the National Championship which is scheduled for May 14th – May 17th.
