A pair of solid rounds landed the Statesmen men’s golf team in bronze position as it opened the fall by hosting the Midwest Collegiate Open Monday and Tuesday.
William Penn placed third out of seven teams with a two-day tally of 604 (300-304) at The Preserve GC–a par-72 layout. Iowa Western CC took the team crown at 580 (283-297), while Des Moines Area CC held off the navy and gold by one shot at 603 (294-309).
Alister Balcombe of IWCC ran away with the individual title at five-under 139 (66-73).
Despite being a handful of strokes behind the winner, Spencer Skipper (Sr., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Business Management) carded two great efforts with a 71-73–144 to tie for second.
Frederik Lundsgaard (So., Jebjerg, Denmark, History/Government) was just outside the top 10, tying for 11th at 150 (74-76), and John Baumunk (Jr., Sherrard, Ill., Business Management) made his Statesmen debut in a tie for 17th at 155 (75-80).
Justin Bothma (Sr., Boksburg, South Africa, Business Management) shot a pair of 80’s (160 total) to tie for 27th. Brandon Dizon (Jr., San Leandro, Calif., Sociology) was only able to post one round, tallying a 75 on Tuesday.
Two more WPU teams were in action at The Preserve as well as the ‘C’ team edged the ‘B’ group. The C team was fifth at 627 (313-314), while the B team was sixth at 638 (319-319).
Joshua Snyman (Fr., Johannesburg, South Africa) headed the entire crew in a tie for 11th at 150 (77-73), while Zach Swink (Jr., Burlington, Iowa) also snuck into the top 20 (19th) at 156 (79-77).
Ben Roberts (Sr., Albia, Iowa, Industrial Technology) was 21st at 157 (75-82), while Ethan Powers (Sr., Tipton, Iowa, Business Management), at 80-79–159, and Kyle Hashimoto (Jr., Acampo, Calif., Undecided), at 76-83–159, shared 25th place.
Peter Frederiksen (So., Hornslet, Denmark, Mechanical Engineering) placed 29th at 162 (80-82), Rory Schafer (So., Solwezi, Zambia) was 30th at 163 (84-79), Bradley Hamilton (Fr., Earlham, Iowa) concluded in a tie for 31st at 166 (81-85), Charlie Hayes (Jr., Whitesboro, Texas, History/Government) finished tied for 33rd at 167 (86-81), and Cade Hartman (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) tied for 35th at 168 (88-80).
Next Up: William Penn is off nearly two weeks, returning to action on September 12-13 at the Clarke Classic in Peosta. Play will be contested at Thunder Hills Country Club.
Story provided by Wade Steinlage
