The golf season came to an end last weekend, as the IIAC championship finished up in Waverly, Iowa, with the men’s team entering the final round in fifth place and ending the championship in fifth place. They watched Central College take home its 28th Iowa Conference title.
“The final 36 holes of the season were tough for the team, where they needed everything to go right for them, but in the end nothing did,” said Coach Jeremy Hawkins.
Senior Mark Dolphin led the team through the round, shooting 75 last Friday and 84 on Saturday, giving him a +22 for the championship. Players in contention for sixth to 10th place and tied at the end of the round played sudden death holes to determine sole position, and Dolphin received the final All-Conference spot, placing 10th after losing the sudden death hole.
Bad weather on Friday led to blustery, less-than-ideal course conditions for the teams to play on. Delays on the course led to teams playing until sunset, and the last wave of teams had to come back on Saturday to finish up their Friday rounds. For the Duhawks, Friday was a day they looked to get closer to those positioned above them, but they ended up picking up no ground at all.
Sophomore Beau Brandt placed third out of the Loras men, shooting an 81 and 80 on the final two days of play, and putting him in a tie for 22nd place. First-year Sam Herrmann shot 76 on the first day, but fell apart the second day with the weather conditions and shot an 86, which dropped him to 26th place. Senior Steve Stark rounded out the group, recovering from the 87 that he posted the first day in the tournament, and shooting 78 and 80 on the final two days for 30th place.
Junior Andrew Schroeder shot fairly consistently throughout all four days, which led to a 17th place finish and recognition from Coach Hawkins.
“The player that impressed me the most on Saturday was Andrew Schroeder. Very tough weather conditions again, with high winds, and he came in with our lowest score (75). He made 6 birdies on Saturday; I would bet no one else in the entire tournament had 6 birdies that day,” he said.
Of course, with the Championship round coming to an end, the collegiate careers of Dolphin and Stark came to an end as well, and there is no doubt that both had that in mind as they came around to their final hole.
“Dolphin and Stark are two very veteran players; it is a tough thing knowing your collegiate career can be over by the end of the day,” said Hawkins.
As teams start gearing up toward the future, the Loras men’s team looks to be in good position to contend with many of the teams next season.
“For next year, we need to work on consistency,” Hawkins said. “We cannot afford to have a couple of guys having a bad day and throwing up huge numbers. If we want to compete, we need someone to step up and come in with a low score every week, and the rest of the team to come in with mid 70’s. We have guys capable of doing this; we just need to do it all the time.”
