Nov. 1—OTTUMWA — It may not quite have been the Miracle at Medinah or the Battle of Brookline.
Like some of the great comeback in the history of Ryder Cup, the second-annual Warrior Cup was won on Friday with a run of wins in singles play. The Indian Hills men’s golf team officially wrapped up the fall portion of their season rallying with from a two-point deficit through the first two sessions outscoring a team of Ottumwa and surrounding area golfers to win the 27-hole exhibition 12.5-7.5 giving the defending national champions some fun bragging rights heading into the winter break.
“It was super fun. It was cold all day, but the team played really good,” IHCC sophomore and reigning NJCAA national individual champion Jose Miguel Ramirez said. “Everyone got some big points for the team. There’s always momentum that you can build up. There were some really good matches that came down to the last hole.”
After competing against some of the best collegiate golfers in the country over the past two months, the defending NJCAA national champion Warriors were seeking to take the cup away from the group of top-flight southern Iowa golfers including former Ottumwa City Golf champions Matthew Walker, Aaron O’Brien, Jeff Collett and Dusty Stewart. Stewart, a former IHCC golfer himself, picked up a tournament-high three points including a one-up win over Jose Luis Vargas in the first of the 10 singles matches.
“It was tough playing out there, but I think everyone had fun,” Stewart said. “I think the Warriors are really good. They’ve got a great team. We had a pretty good team. It was pretty close until they blew us up in the singles. I assume Indian Hills is going to be right there when it comes to the NJCAA National Tournament this spring. We have a big advantage in playing this course all the time, but they have a big advantage being young and playing tournament golf all the time.”
The Warriors also had plenty of motivation. The Warriors lost the inaugural edition of the tournament last fall 11-5 with the area golfers taking six of the eight matches in singles play.
“These guys are good. We found that out last year,” Ramirez said. “We had to wake up. We didn’t want to lose this again. Our guys played really well. It’s a lot of fun, but you always want to win. It feels good to play like this before we get ready for the spring.”
The Warriors posted their lowest tournament score of the fall one week earlier at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Preview. The Warriors finished the event in sixth place overall with a 12-over-par 864.
Competing at Rockwind Community Golf Course, the home of the 2024 NJCAA Division I Men’s Golf National Championship, the Warriors fired a nine-under-par 275 to climb the leaderboard through the final 18 holes. The Warriors’ 275 was four strokes better than any of the 17 teams competing in the Preview. Indian Hills saw five individuals shoot 69 or better in the final round.
“It was a good fall for us. We played a lot of high-quality competition against a lot of Division I competition and see what that was about,” IHCC head coach Michael Wetrich said. “We got a good feel for how things are going to stack up at the national tournament. The guys are working hard. They’re starting to become a tight-knit group.
“We’ve got a lot to work on during the offseason. I think the guys have seen where their games have some holes and some weaknesses. Ultimately, it’s all about peaking at the right time in May.”
All-American sophomore Gaspar Glaudas led IHCC in each of their final four tournaments this fall, including an eighth-place finish at the National Preview tournament that included first and third rounds of 69. Glaudas closed out a run of eight straight wins in singles play during the Warrior Cup, edging Collett one-up giving Indian Hills a 12-7 lead.
“It was a lot of fun. I appreciate all the players to come out here and compete in the cold,” Wetrich said. “It wish the weather was better, but everyone had a really good time. The guys had a good time and got to know more of the people from around the community.
“Ottumwa’s had a great tradition of golf come through this town. The state champions that have come through, the college golfers that have come through, even the professional golfers that have come through. It’s really impressive from this size of town how impressive the golf is.”
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
