Lubbock, Texas -- After opening up a nine-shot advantage following the 3rd round of the NJCAA National Championship, Indian Hills still had that same nine-stroke lead after Friday's final round and the result was IHCC's 6th golf national title. The Warriors and eventual runnerup Iowa Western battled on even terms through the first half of the tourney. Iowa Western held the lead by a single stroke after the opening 18 holes and Indian Hills pulled into a tie at the midway point.
The turning point, however, came in round three, which was delayed by thunderstorms at the end of the day forcing two IHCC players, Joe Kim and Ricky Sanders, to finish play on Friday before the start of the last round. By the time the two IHCC golfers put the finishing touches on their 3rd rounds, Indian Hills owned a nine-shot lead, 848-857, and Indian Hills then got sub-par rounds from Sanders and Kim and even-par scores by George Clarke and Maxime Leclerc to stop any thoughts of a comeback IWCC may have had.
Sanders, the individual champ last year as a freshman, had to settle for a 2nd place finish this year. He tied with Midland's Callum Bruce, six shots behind the medalist, Iowa Western's Joel Durnford. Sanders sparked IHCC's run over the last two rounds with back-to-back four-under par 68s for a 279 total. Kim fired a 71 Friday to wind up in a tie for 5th place at 285, five-under for the tourney. Julien Sale was a shot back of Kim after a last-round 73 left him with a 284 total. Clarke shot even-par for the tourney, closing with a 72 and a final score of 288. Leclerc concluded play the same way he started with a par-72 for a tie for 22nd place at 292.
Indian Hills' total of 1131 for the 72 holes was 21 strokes under par and the second-lowest national tourney score ever for an IHCC squad. Only the 2006 team had a lower score and their 1108 total only got them a 5th place finish.
The way they played the par-5 holes went a long way toward helping the Warriors claim the national title. They were 44-under par on the par-5s, 10 shots better than Iowa Western. Indian Hills was also four strokes ahead of any other team on the par-4s.
The Warriors topped the 21-team field with 74 birdies and seven eagles. Kim carded 19 birdies and he, Sanders and Sale each had a pair of eagles. Sanders helped his cause by playing the par-5s in 12-under, while Kim was -10 and Sale -9 on the long holes.
It was the first national title for Indian Hills since the 2015 team won the program's 4th championship in a five-year span.
Sanders last year became IHCC's 5th national tournament medalist. This year he earned the school's 6th runnerup finish, and the first since Jon Paul Blampied in 2012.
The Warriors played in 11 tournaments in the fall and spring seasons and won nine of them under first-year head coach Nathan Weant, who was named the National Coach of the Year to cap his initial season in charge of the IHCC golf program. Of the five players who represented IHCC at the national tourney, Sanders and Sale are sophomores and the other three -- Kim, Clarke and Leclerc -- will return next year to help Indian Hills defend its title.
NJCAA National Championship
Team scores (top 10 of 21):
- Indian Hills 278-286-284-283=1131; 2. Iowa Western 277-287-293-283=1140; 3. Midland 288-285-287-284=1144; 4. Odessa 285-294-294-281=1154; 5. Central Alabama 289-285-296-287=1157; 6. McLennan 290-282-305-285=1162; 7. Western Texas 289-296-293-292=1170; 8. Eastern Florida State 296-293-293-296=1178; 9. Calhoun 286-304-293-297=1180; 10. Wallace State 286-306-299-297=1188
Indian Hills scores:
T2. Ricky Sanders 70-73-68-68=279; T5. Joe Kim 69-71-72-71=285; T8. Julien Sale 69-67-75-73=284; T14. George Clarke 70-75-71-72=288; T22. Maxime Leclerc 72-75-73-72=292