Central golf teams travel southwest for spring break
Central College
PELLA—The Central College men’s and women’s golf teams will open their spring seasons in warmer climates next week, each playing host to a tournament on courses used for the second stage of the PGA tour qualifying tournament.
The men’s squad plays host to the Dutch Desert Shootout March 16 at the Southern Dunes Golf Course in Maricopa, Ariz. The par-72 course is a total of 6,889 yards and was rated the fifth best course in Arizona and a top 100 course in the nation.
Competing in the tournament is Carthage College (Wis.), Simpson College, Univ. of Wis.-Parkside, Grand Canyon State (Ariz.) and Mesa Community College (Ariz.). Along with Central, Carthage is receiving votes in the national rankings. Mesa was a third-place national finisher last season in the National Junior College Athletic Association. Wis.-Parkside and Grand Canyon are both Division II members.
“The competition is tough,” coach Chad Green said. “But we want to put up 11 good scores and play the best we can. How we compete with Mesa will be a good marker of where we’re at this early in the spring.”
The Dutch will enter two teams and an individual. The first team includes sophomore Justin Livingston (Winterset), senior Jason Harvey (Goldfield, Clarion-Goldfield HS), junior Brent Messmore (Hudson), senior Alex Huyser (Sully, Lynnville-Sully HS) and junior Brent Goodenow (Johnston). On the second squad is junior Travis Havens (Belmond, Belmond-Klemme HS), junior CJ Gaston (Keosauqua, Van Buren HS), sophomore Drew Osier (Austin, Minn., Austin HS), senior Chris Crawford (Conrad, BCLUW HS) and sophomore Anthony Houge (Urbandale). Junior Matt Vegter (Morrison, Ill., Morrison HS) will compete as an individual.
Central has been practicing for about a month and Green is pleased with what he’s seen.
“Things have been going really well and the players are as prepared as they can be considering our location,” Green said. “We’ll struggle most with our short game – it’s the first to go and the last to come back – so we’ll work on getting our touch back.”
The Dutch will have plenty of practice sharpening their skills as Green has the squad playing six additional courses in five days.
“I’m looking forward to knocking the rust off,” Green said. “That’s why we’re playing as much as we can. I’m hoping to get in some good solid practice sessions.”
On the women’s side, Central plays host to the SoCal Dutch Invitational March 16-17 at the Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont, Calif. The par-72 course is 5,860 yards.
“It’s a tough course,” coach Tim Wilkinson said. “It’s not flat but it doesn’t have as many challenging ups and downs as Bos Landen. It will be a good test for the players and a course they will enjoy playing.”
The Dutch meet Occidental College (Calif.), the Univ. of Redlands (Calif.), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) and Whitman College (Wash.) in the tournament.
Heading into a qualifying round Monday, Central’s lineup includes junior Sarah Paulson (Ottumwa), sophomore Kaurie Kincaid (Knoxville), senior Allison Crooks (Moline, Ill., Moline HS), junior Ali Miller (Davenport, North HS) and sophomore Kara Stadtlander (Manning, IKM HS).
Paulson, a two-time Iowa Conference MVP, will be playing her first round of competitive golf since October 2009. She was sidelined from an injury before missing the fall semester studying in Spain through Central Abroad.
“She’ll be fine,” Wilkinson said. “Once she gets out there and realizes she can still hit the ball and do all the things that make her a great player, she’ll be OK.”
Wilkinson likes the growth he’s seen from the Dutch this early in the offseason.
“The team’s been practicing really hard,” Wilkinson said. “That’s difficult to do indoors, but the players have really put forth the effort to improve.”
After testing their progress in the invitational, Central will get in a few more swings with some practice rounds at the Eagle Falls Golf Course in Palm Springs, a 6,715 yard par-72 course.
Follow the Central women through California in a team blog at http://blogs.central.edu/golfwomens/.
