NEWTON, KAN.—
Kayden Pendergrass (senior, Mount Vernon) posted a seventh-place finish as the Central College men's golf team took fourth at the 10-team, 54-hole Sand Creek Station Intercollegiate Tuesday.
In calm, sunny conditions as temperatures soared into the 80s after 36 holes in punishing winds Monday, Pendergrass fired a 73-70-76—219. Gerardo Alemany of NAIA Friends University (Kan.) was the tourney medalist with 67-69-72—208 at the par-72 Sand Creek Station Golf Course
"Kayden played exceptionally well," coach
Mel Blasi said. "He just had two bad holes that hurt him. But it was a really good tournament for him from start to finish."
The Dutch shot 318-308-313—935 to hang on to fourth place, a shot better than Missouri Baptist University. Friends ran away with the team crown, carding 278-276-287—841 for a 51-shot advantage over second place Columbia College (Mo.).
Blake Wynn (junior, Milan, Ill., Sherrard HS) shot 80-78-77—235, tying for 20th with
Maison Brandt (freshman, Byron, Ill.), who shot 81-78-76—159.
Cooper Langfelt (senior, Tabor, Fremont Mills HS) had 82-80-84—246 and
Jackson Murphy (senior, Carthage, Ill., Illini West HS) had 91-87-86—264.
Ethan Gordon (senior, Pella), playing as an at-large entrant, shot 78-86-76--240.
"
Maison Brandt birdied the last two holes to shoot 76, so it was really good to see him finish strong," Blasi said. "He's had a great fall. And
Blake Wynn shot a 77. I was really happy with him pretty much the whole tournament. He just had a few mental errors but he strikes the ball really solid."
Tuesday's round completes Central's fall season schedule.
"I think there are a lot of positives we can take away from the fall," Blasi said. "I saw a lot of improvement from a lot of guys and I still feel really good about the core group we have going into the spring. We had great weather all fall and good golf courses to get better on. That will help our experience level and make us a better team. Our mental approach, and being a little more tough through adversity, improved over the last few tournaments."
The Dutch open the spring campaign with a spring break trip to the Dallas, Texas area in mid-March.
