Moravia, Iowa -- Indian Hills threatened the school record with an opening-round team total of 266, then widened the lead the next two rounds as the Warriors coasted to a victory in The Warrior Challenge. IHCC sophomore Maxime Leclerc tied with Iowa Western's Tom Westenberger for the low score with a 204 and Leclerc was awarded medalist honors after a scorecard countback.
Leclerc and teammates Joe Hodgson and George Clarke all fired six-under par 66s in the opening round, helping the Warriors to the 266 score, just two strokes off the IHCC record for 18 holes - a 264 in the second round of the 2006 NJCAA national championship meet.
Indian Hills opened up a 19-shot lead over Kirkwood CC in the first 18 holes, then outshot Kirkwood by eight strokes in Monday's second round and by eight more on Tuesday. Iowa Western slipped past Kirkwood into second place, but they trailed the first-place Warriors by 33 shots as IHCC got a measure of revenge after finishing two strokes behind IWCC in their first meet of the fall.
The Warriors had three consecutive under-par rounds over the par-72 Preserve at Rathbun Lake course. Their 266 was 22 under, and they followed with a 279 (nine under) and a 285 (three under) to go a whopping 34 shots under-par for the tourney.
"As a coach I love to get off to a good start to really set up the rest of the tournament," said IHCC first-year coach John Mulholland. "It was also our first event playing 36 holes in a day and that is always hard. We were able to tough out a really good second round to post a team total that I felt could not be caught."
After his first-round 66 Leclerc had two more sub-par rounds -- a 71 and a 67 -- to wind up 12-under for the tourney. "I'm very happy for Maxime," his coach said, "as this was his first individual victory at IHCC. Together we identified and adjusted his routine and focus in his pre-shot routine last week and it paid big dividends for him, which he was very happy with."
Freshman Harry Doig was also under-par in all three rounds, shooting 68, 69 and 70. He tied for third place with Mount Mercy's William Bruyeres at minus-9. "It was a great event for Harry," Mulholland said. "As a freshman his ability to think around the golf course is beyond his years and will only get better as we continue to play the rest of the year."
Indian Hills sophs Hodgson and Clarke also finished in the top seven. Hodgson was fifth at 8-under 208, four shots back of his teammate Leclerc, and Clarke wound up in 7th place at 211. Ethan Keane of Indian Hills tied for 16th with a 221 total that included consecutive rounds of one-over par 73.
"We prepared for this event just like any other event we will play which I think was the difference from this tourney to our first competition, where rain hampered our preparation leading into the Mount Mercy classic," Mulholland explained. "We were able to take control with how we went about things in the first round which I was really impressed with."
The Warriors will compete in The Jackrabbit, hosted by South Dakota State University, in Valentine, Neb., Sept. 30-Oct. 2. "I am really looking foward to see how we will play there," Mulholland said. "Our guys will compete against some of the best NCAA DI players and be able to compare their games in return."
The Warrior Challenge
Team scores:
- Indian Hills 266-279-285=830; 2. Iowa Western 288-289-286=863; 3. Kirkwood 285-287-293=865; 4. Mount Mercy 293-288-287=868; 5. William Penn 284-288-298=870; 6. Southwestern 310-317-325=952
Indian Hills scores:
1. Maxime Leclerc 66-71-67=204; T3. Harry Doig 68-69-70=207; 5. Joe Hodgson 66-69-73=208; 7. George Clarke 66-70-75=211; T16. Ethan Keane 73-73-75=221