ICC Golfers finish as top medalists

Saturday, October 24, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Clay Crawford, Independence Community College freshman from Paola, Kan., shot rounds of 77 and 74 to capture medalist honors by one stroke and win the KCK Blue Devil Invitational with a Birdie on the final hole when ICC played Oct 12 and 13, at the Kansas City, Kan., Invitational on the tough Dub's Dread Golf Course.

For the second tournament in a row, an ICC Pirate came away as the first place medalist. Less than a week ago, Chris Moudy, Carl Junction, Mo., won in a torrential downpour at the Ottawa Invitational, and Crawford continued his strong play to give Independence back-to-back champions finishing up a promising fall season.

"The Independence Golfing Pirates had a successful fall season and are looking forward to moving towards the top of the Jayhawk Conference this spring," said head golf coach Larry Forsythe. "These outstanding performances were the first time in the four-year history of Pirate Golf that an ICC linkster was a low scorer in a tournament."

The Pirates teed it up at Dub's Dread this week in the Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devil Invitational for their final tournament this fall. On Monday, the scores were slightly high with Crawford shooting a 77; Moudy, 84; freshman Ken Hill, 86, and sophomore Zack Braucher, 88, both of Nevada, Mo.

Freshmen Garryl Darkis, Parsons, Kan., and Wil Stuart, of Goddard, Kan., played in the tournament as medalists, both shooting 91. Freshman Kel Walters, Dennis, Kan., was disqualified due to a scorecard mistake and, displaying strong character, turned himself in.

After one round, the Pirates carded a team total of 335, which put them in eighth place out of 16 teams. Day two brought better news for the team as Crawford carded a strong 74; Moudy, 80; Walters, 84; Braucher, 91; and Hill 108.

Darkis was disqualified Tuesday with a scorecard technicality and Stuart shot a 101. The Pirates finished with a two-day total of 664, giving them a sixth place finish.

Johnson County continued their strong play this season and won the tournament as a team. When Crawford was asked how he felt about winning the final tournament of the fall season he jokingly remarked, "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then, and today I found my fair share."

Forsythe stressed that Clay played two excellent rounds of golf as he led the Pirates to another strong finish.

The Pirates placed fourth out of eight teams with a total of 652 on Oct. 7 and 8, when the golf team participated in the Ottawa University Invitational tournament at Eagle Bend Golf Course, Lawrence, Kan. Chris Moudy, sophomore from Carl Junction, Mo., was a medalist for the tournament after shooting a 76 in the first round and a 71 in the second round.

The 71 was the only sub-par round in the tournament and, against all odds, was fired out on a day when rain poured down on the contestants throughout the event.

Forsythe remarked that this was the best showing for the Pirates this fall. Crawford ended the two rounds with a 78 and 81, which put him in eighth place among all scores. Also making a major contribution to the fourth-place finish for the Pirates was Braucher with scores of 81 and 86 for a total of 167.

Hill shot a 93 and 88, for a total of 181 and Darkis contributed a 91 in each round for a total of 182 to round out the Pirate scoring for the tournament.

Independence was the only Community College in the eight-team field. Baker University won the tournament with a total score of 633, followed by the host school, Ottawa University with a score of 636.

In third place was Sterling College with a score of 639, while ICC took fourth place with a total score of 652.

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