Council Bluffs, Iowa -- The top-ranked Indian Hills golf team made it three wins in as many events this fall with a victory in the rain-shortened Bent Tree Intercollegiate. Thirty-six holes were played on Monday at the Bent Tree Golf Club before rain and soggy conditions prevented the final 18 holes from being played Tuesday.
IHCC opened up a five-shot lead over second-place Iowa Western after the first round and extended the margin to 16 strokes by the end of round two. Hutchinson CC was another 13 shots back in the six-team field.
Julien Sale led a group of five Indian Hills players in the top eight spots by shooting back-to-back one-over par 73s for a second-place finish. Sale was just one shot behind medalist Fernando Arzate of Bellevue University and one in front of teammate Ricky Sanders. Sanders, in turn, was one stroke better than IHCC's George Clarke, who was in a tie for 4th. Sanders' three-under 69 in the first round was the lowest score of the tournament. Clarke had a round of even-par 72 and so did the Warriors' Joe Hodgson, who tied with Joe Kim of Indian Hills for 6th place.
Indian Hills is down to just one tournament left on the fall schedule -- the NJCAA DI National Preview meet to be played at the Rawls Course at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, Oct. 16-17. The Warriors were 2nd in the Preview last year after tying for 1st two years ago. They have finished in the top four the last seven times the event has been played, winning it outright in 2010. The meet is a true "preview" since it's always played on the course where the NJCAA Division I National Championship will be contested the following spring.
Bent Tree Intercollegiate
Team scores:
- Indian Hills 292-296=588; 2. Iowa Western 297-307=604; 3. Hutchinson CC 304-313=617; 4. Southeast CC 312-330=642; 5. Southwestern CC 325-325=650; 6. Hesston College 355-357=712
Indian Hills scores:
2. Julien Sale 73-73=146; 3. Ricky Sanders 69-78=147; T4. George Clarke 76-72=148; T6. Joe Kim 74-75=149; T6. Joe Hodgson 72-77=149; T13. Chris Cooksley 78-76=154