Central grabs league men’s golf lead

Central College

STORM LAKE—Bitter wind gusts sent the Central College men’s golf team to its highest score of the spring season but it was still good enough to secure a 3-stroke lead in the first round of the Iowa Conference tournament Saturday.

The Dutch turned in a 313 on the windswept par-72 Lake Creek Country Club. The Dutch shot 299 and 297 on the same course in balmier conditions at the Buena Vista Invitational a week ago.

But Saturday, host Buena Vista was second at 316, followed by Loras at 319, Dubuque at 320 and Luther at 324. The 72-hole tourney continues Sunday at 10 a.m. before concluding with 36 holes April 29-30 at the Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City.

Central, winner of 28 league titles, including the past two, got a 76 from Justin Livingston (sophomore, Winterset), who is tied for second place in the individual standings. Jason Harvey (senior, Goldfield, Clarion-Goldfield HS) is tied for sixth at 78, Brent Messmore (junior, Hudson) is tied for ninth at 79, Drew Osier (sophomore, Austin, Minn.) is tied for 13th at 80 and Alex Huyser (senior, Sully, Lynnville-Sully HS) shares 32nd with 86.

“It was not a good day but not horrible, either,” first-year coach Chad Green said. “It’s nice when you can play bad and still be leading.”

Green noted that Messmore and Osier came through on the back nine with 37 and 38, respectively. Yet scoring was a challenge.

“We missed a lot of greens and then didn’t get up and down,” Green said. “But that’s going to happen in the wind. These were the windiest conditions we’ve played in all year.”