2011 Iowa Conference Men's Golf Championship Webpage
IOWA CITY, Iowa --- Central College shaved 19 strokes off its third-round score Saturday at Finkbine Golf Course en route to its league-record 29th Iowa Conference men's golf title. Central's Jason Harvey posted a final-round 72, tied for low round of the day, and captured Championship medalist honors by two strokes. Harvey was also named IIAC Men's Golfer of the Year.
The Dutch posted a final-round 307 Saturday to finish the 72-hole championship with a 1,235 total. The University of Dubuque, with three All-Iowa Conference golfers, posted a 304, the low team round of the day and the second lowest round of the championship, to place second with a 1,259 total. It was the Spartans best finish at the IIAC Championships since placing second in 1993.
Loras was third at 1,261, one stroke better than Luther in fourth (1,262). Buena Vista (1,271), Wartburg (1,286), Simpson (1,301), Coe (1,315), and Cornell (1,455) rounded out the field.
Harvey, who also posted the low round of the tournament with a 71 in round two at Lake Creek, had four birdies Saturday to overtake teammate Justin Livingston, who entered the final round with the medalist lead. It was his second All-Iowa Conference honor after placing ninth in 2009. Livingston, who fired a final round 4-over-par 76, placed second with a 302 total.
Loras took the next two spots on the leaderboard as 36-hole leader Sam Herrmann took third with a 306 and Joe Leibfried fourth with a 310. Dubuque's Eric Wolfe and Martin Odegard each finished with 311s for 72-hole totals, but Wolfe took fifth with a birdie on the first playoff hole to Odegard's par. Luther's Tobias Kohl and Buena Vista's Kyle Auffert - both with 312s - also needed extra holes to decide their final placing. After both parred the first playoff hole, it was Kohl's par to Auffert bogey on extra hole no. 2 that was the deciding factor between seventh and eighth.
Wartburg's Michael Dominick made the biggest move among the leaders Saturday jumping to ninth from a tie for 18th with a final-round 72 to finish at 313. It was Dominick's second All-Conference honor after taking sixth a year ago. Mitchell Sobotta gave Dubuque three All-Conference players with a 10th-place finish.
With the victory, Central also receives the Iowa Conference's automatic berth in the 2011 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships, set for May 10-13 at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C.
Coach of the Year: First-year Central head coach Chad Green was named 2011 Iowa Conference Men's Golf Coach of the Year after leading the Dutch to their 29th Iowa Conference men's golf title. The Dutch finished first or second in each of the six varsity tournament they participated in this spring, winning the Simpson, Loras, and Scot-Fire Invitationals, in addition to the IIAC title.
