MACOMB, IL - For the second straight week, NJCAA No. 4-rated Indian Hills took part in an event hosted by a NCAA Division I school with a field loaded with four-year institutions, and while the Warriors didn't walk away with all the hardware like it did a week ago, they made an excellent account of themselves.
IHCC couldn't close an eight-stroke gap with the University of Indianapolis heading into the final round of play on Monday and ended up as the runner-up at the 48th annual Beu Mussatto Invitational hosted by Western Illinois at Harry Mussatto Golf Course. The Warriors had won the event in both 2018 and 2019, but had to settle for silver this time around.
"We had lots of good scoring again," said IHCC Head Coach John Mulholland. "Unfortunately we couldn't get close enough to a top-ranked Division II school who had a lot of seasoned competitors. It would have been nice to take home both trophies again."
Mulholland was referring to the fact that the Warriors snatched both the team and individual titles in last week's Butler Spring Invitational in Indianapolis. While IHCC didn't pull of that double again, they did the next best thing.
In addition to their second place finish as a team, sophomore Antoine Sale continued to sizzle this spring as the Warrior standout took runner-up medalist honors, his second such finish this spring to go along with two outright individual wins. Sale carded back-back 4-under par 68s in rounds two and three to go along with an uncharacteristic 2-over par 74 in round one to end up six under for the event, trailing only Indianapolis' Oliver Mast by a single stroke.
Sale was the only competitor to shoot lower than 69 for a single round in the event, and he did it twice
"Antoine has not finished outside the top 10 this year and continues to impress with 68 in the final two rounds," Mulholland added. "He has had a number of chances to win events and that's very exciting."
Freshman Max T. Hartmann continues to follow Sale's lead and was the Warriors next highest finisher, coming in eighth place with a 3-over 219 for the three rounds.
"Both Antoine and Max played some really steady golf and both have been getting better as the year has progressed, Mulholland said.
Thomas Burou went low in round one on Sunday morning, shooting a 69 to put himself in contention, but the lanky sophomore couldn't sustain that level of play throughout as he finished in 12th place after rounds of 74 and 78 to close the event at five-over (221).
Harry Fearn (8-over, 224) and Cyril Henault (10-over, 226) rounded out the scoring for the Warriors as Fearn ended up in 16th and Henault was 18th. Blade Gadd and Jake Calhoun competed as individuals and finished in 17th and 24th place, respectively.
IHCC will travel for the third consecutive weekend as the Warriors head to West Oklahoma City's Lincoln Park Golf Club to take part in Oklahoma City University's U.C. Ferguson Invitational Monday and Tuesday, April 12-13 in their last spring event before the District III Championships on April 26-27.
"Having this three week stretch of golf really shows where we need to get better and what needs to improve by the end of the year," Mulholland said. "Our guys have had their eyes on one event all year that they are really focused on and that's the NJCAA National Championships. We have played a range of different courses this year and adapting to that is what the guys have done well this year."
Mulholland reports that the field in Oklahoma will included several solid NAIA schools which should test the Warriors.
Beu Mussatto Final Team Scores
Indianapolis 284 283 285 852 -12
Indian Hills 288 287 294 869 +5
Western Illinois 292 297 287 876 +12
Nebraska-Omaha 301 295 301 897 +33
Western Illinois-B 314 307 312 933 +69
Chicago State 315 312 308 935 +71
North Dakota 312 318 314 944 +80
Illinois Central 318 322 324 964 +100
Warrior Individual Scores
2. Antoine Sale 74 68 68 210 -6
8. Max T. Hartmann 72 74 73 219 +3
12. Thomas Burou 69 74 78 221 +5
16. Harry Fearn 73 74 77 224 +8
18. Cyril Henault 79 71 76 226 +10
17. Blade Gadd* 74 79 72 225 +9
24. Jake Calhoun* 79 75 75 229 +13
*Did not factor in team scoring