REIVERS OPEN THE YEAR AT THE BLUE RIVER CLASSIC
Lincoln, NE - The Iowa Western men's golf team opened their 2024-25 season this week at the Blue River Classic hosted by Doane University and Concordia University. Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln, NE was the host course for the event.
The Reivers got off to a steady start during round one of the tournament. Iowa Western found themselves under par midway through the round. At the conclusion of the first round Iowa Western was led by three new faces, freshman Sam Wells -1 (71), freshman Ethan Main -1 (71), and freshman Lloyd Hughes -1 (71). Sophomore Nick Slobbe rounded out the team scoring for the Reivers with a +3 (75), totaling a 288 first round team score.
Round two got started right away, as players completed 36-holes on Wednesday. The Reivers got off to a quick start again and sustained momentum throughout the second round. "We got off to great starts during the first round and second round," said Iowa Western Coach Ryan Norman, "we gave a couple of strokes back to close our opening round, but it was nice to see the guys finish their rounds off during the second round." Led again with a host of freshman newcomers, Wells fired a -3 (69) during round two; Hughes would match that with -3 (69); Main continued his strong play with a -2 (70); Slobbe came back with a very solid -2 (70). The Reivers fired an impressive -10 (278) during their second round and had tallied a (566) ten under par total through the first two rounds.
Heading into Thursday's final round Iowa Western was comfortably in second place behind a very impressive Indian Hills team. The Reivers never quite found any traction during the final round to push the Warriors in the team race. Slobbe would close with a -1 (71), Wells +3 (75), Main +4 (76), and sophomore Greg Lewis +6 (78), to close with a +12 (300) final round. Iowa Western finished second place overall with an (866) 54-hole total score, and Wells would capture a tenth-place individual medal for his efforts.
The Reivers will be back out competing September 16th & 17th at the Central Kansas Classic in McPherson, KS hosted by Central Christian. Turkey Creek Golf Course will be the host venue.