The Southwestern men and women traveled north to the North Iowa Area Community College Fall Invitational on September 10 in Mason City and they brought home some hardware.
The Southwestern women broke the 18-hole school record in shooting a 363. The new school record was led by Bianca Findlay, sophomore from Melbourne, Australia, and her individual school record of 76.
The Spartan women broke the record on a beautiful day, on a rain-soaked golf course.
"The hard work is actually paying off," stated Findlay. "I see improvement, as well as the opportunity for even more improvement."
Findlay won the tournament by three strokes over fellow Spartan and Creston-native Ashton Carter.
"My putting was good," explained Carter. "The goal was no three-putts, and that goal was accomplished. I'm a back-nine player and that was the case today."
The other Spartan scores were a 94 from Dallas Center native Sarah Rauschenberg; a 114 from Megan Fairchild, sophomore from Stuart; and rounding out the team was freshman Kate Belding, of Lenox, with a 118.
The Spartan men matched the intensity of the women in setting another major school record, the team 18-hole scoring record. The Spartan men shot an even par round of 288 in a second place finish to perennial-power Des Moines Area Community College. Pacing the Spartans was Shaun Richards, a sophomore from Australia.
"I played the par-5's well. There is always room for improvement, but I am excited." Richards fired a -2 under par round 70 to finish T-2nd place in a stellar field.
Another Creston-native, Kyle Somers, was a major contributor. "I putted well today. I had six birdies, but too many bogies to match. It felt good in my first tournament as a Spartan, I'm excited for this team" boasts Somers. Somers finished T-5th in shooting a -1 under par round of 71. Other contributors were Oliver Pearson firing an even par 73, and Jesper Holke-Farnam and Reinhardt Saunderson in both firing a pair of 75's.
Both Spartan teams will continue their high level of play with the men competing in the Graceland Invitational on Thursday and the women competing in the same tournament on Saturday. "It is nice to see everybody clicking. The energy on this team is electrifying and the hunger never fades. What a great time to be a Spartan golfer" says the excited Coach North.
Men's Team Results - http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/team/static_index.cfm?tournament_id=16750
Men's Individual Results - http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/leaderboards/player/static_index.cfm?tournament_id=16750
Women's Team Results - http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/team/static_index.cfm?tournament_id=16725
Women's Individual Results - http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/leaderboards/player/static_index.cfm?tournament_id=16725