WICHITA, KS – With an opportunity to grab its seventh consecutive NJCAA District III Championship, No. 2-rated Indian Hills saw that chance slip away by the narrowest of margins as No. 3-rated Hutchinson (KS) edged the Warriors by one stroke after the final round Tuesday at Crestview Country Club.

IHCC had three golfers finish in the top ten of the individual standings including runner-up medalist Harry Fearn, who carded and eve par score of 215 over the 54-hole event.  Thomas Burou and Antoine Sale were four strokes back of Fearn, and tied for seventh place.

"It was another great chance for us, but coming up short by the slimmest of margins always makes it a tough end to a good week of golf," said IHCC Head Coach John Mulholland. "The wind and course were challenging but we know we could have easily made a few better decisions and the end result would have been much different. Playing as consistent as we have all year is something that is hard to replicate, and having a group who can really compete is a lot of fun to coach."

Fearn lead the Warriors for the first time all season as the sophomore sizzled on day two's final round.  The Leek, England native's 4-under 68 moved him from a tie for sixth at the beginning of the day to the runner-up slot.

"Harry Fearn played awesome in the final round," Mulholland said.  "A short miss on the last hole wasn't what anyone wanted to see, but that's golf sometimes and he knows every shot counts as much as the next. But I can't say that without adding how impressive his ball striking was this week. He showed some class with how he controlled his shots in some strong Wichita winds, and that makes me super excited to see what he can do down in Texas."

After coming in with a 6-over par 78 on day one, Sale rebounded to post scores of 71 and 70 over the final 36 holes.

"Antoine again showed us why he's one of the best players in all of NJCAA golf," Mulholland added.  "Getting that 70 was a really good score to end on for him and will give him more confidence after a shaky start to the event."

Sale has earned first-team all-Region XI honors while Fearn, Burou and Max T. Hartmann were second-team selections.  Mulholland believes all of his competitors have shots to earn all-American status after the National Meet.

"All of our guys have a great chance to earn all-American honors with good results at the National Championships," Mulholland said. "I know we can add one more win to our list of impressive finishes and we can't wait to get to the Lone Star State again."

Despite seeing its string of District III titles snapped, the Warriors will still be one of a handful of teams in the running for an NJCAA Division I National Championship in two weeks.  The top five team scores from Districts advanced to Nationals which will be held May 11-13 at The Rawls in Lubbock, Texas.  The Rawls is the home course of Texas Tech University and Warrior Golf fans will recall that it was the site of IHCC's last National Championship, the schools sixth, just three years ago in 2018.

"The journey of all these guys has been far from normal, along with being asked to do a lot more throughout the year," Mulholland said. "I'm excited for what we will bring to Lubbock in a couple weekends time.

Team Score

Indian Hills Individual Scores

T2. Harry Fearn -            E - 74 - 73 - 68 - 215

T7. Thomas Burou -       +4 - 73 - 74 - 72 - 219

T7. Antoine Sale -          +4 - 78 - 71 - 70 - 219

9. Cyril Henault -           +5 - 74 - 74 - 72 - 220

T11. Max Hartmann -     +7 - 72 - 75 - 75 - 222

T15. Blade Gadd -          +9 - 74 - 74 - 76 - 224