Lemont, Illinois -- Indian Hills won its second straight team title this fall and sophomore Jesse MacNaughtan won a tiebreaker to claim individual medalist honors in the Flyer Intercollegiate, hosted by Lewis University.
The Warriors got off to a fast start in Monday's opening round, posting a 283 that was five shots under par. With much tougher pin locations on the difficult Cog Hill Dubsbread Course for round two, IHCC carded a 301, good for a 17-stroke advantage over runnerup Upper Iowa.
MacNaughtan, after a first-round two-under 70, finished with a 74 and defeated Bellevue's Andre Becerra in the tiebreaker. Two of MacNaughtan's teammates also had top-five scores, Harry Doig and Harry Fearn tying for third with 145s. Fearn's 66 in round one was the only score in the 60s for the tourney and was the second 66 already this fall for the Warriors. Cyril Henault shot a 66 in the Warrior Challenge last month, a meet IHCC also won by a double-digit margin -- 11 shots over Iowa Western. Henault tied for 13th with his 151 score. Thomas Burou tied for 32nd at 156.
Indian Hills coach John Mulholland called the conditions for the second round "very challenging" and said he was happy with the team effort that produced the victory. "Everyone contributed with counting scores, which is what every coach wants," said Mulholland. "It would have been very cool to have three players tie for the win individually, and that could have happened very easily."
"Jesse has been knocking on the door for a victory for a while now," the IHCC coach said of the medalist, "and it's nice for him to finally get that under his belt. He has posted some quality rounds on some challenging courses and that's a credit to him. Harry (Fearn) was awesome on day one and that really set us up for the finish. His round of 66 was very impressive to see unfold."
Fearn led the field, that included 18 teams with IHCC and Parkland (Ill.) as the only two-year schools, with his 10 birdies and MacNaughtan had 25 pars and six birdies in his 36 holes.
The Tabor Fall Invitational at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kansas on Oct. 14-15 will be the next test for the Warriors who are halfway through their fall schedule.
Flyer Intercollegiate
Team scores (top 10):
- Indian Hills 283-301=584; 2. Upper Iowa 296-305=601; 3. Parkland 302-303=605; T4. Bellevue 306-309=615; T4. Northeastern State 304-311=615; 6. Minot State 302-314=616; 7. Texas A&M International 310-307=617; 8. Chicago State 312-312=624; 9. Lewis 314-312=626; 10. Christian Brothers 321-306=627
Indian Hills scores:
- Jesse MacNaughtan 70-74=144; T3. Harry Doig 72-73=145; T3. Harry Fearn 66-79=145; T13. Cyril Henault 76-75=151; T32. Thomas Burou 75-81=156