Golfers tied at top of conference
By Duane Price
IV Leader Sports Editor, May 6, 2004
The IVCC golfers have shed their winter blues and have been back in action for their spring season.
After four conference meets IVCC is currently tied with Black Hawk College atop the Arrowhead Conference standings with 18 points apiece.
The Eagles have gotten off to the quick start with the sophomore trio of Brad Pinter, Duane Price and Bobby Sipula leading the way. Freshmen Matt Grivetti and Kyle Shevlin have also made key contributions during tournament appearances filling the fourth and fifth positions on the team.
IVCC finished in first place as they played host to the opening conference meet on April 6 at Senica’s Oak Ridge. Pinter won individual meet honors with a 3-over-par 75 and helped the team defeat Black Hawk by 4 strokes.
At the second of the five conference meets Black Hawk returned the favor by beating out second-place finishing IVCC by 4 shots at Kishwaukee on April 13. Sipula posted the best score for the Eagles with a 1-over-par 72.
Sauk Valley hosted the third meet on April 19 where IVCC beat out Black Hawk by the narrowest of margins, 308-309. Pinter and Sipula tied for the top IVCC finishers with 76s on the par 71 Emerald Hills layout.
Black Hawk fired back once again, this time at Highland on April 27 with a 9-stroke victory over the IVCC Eagles to tie the conference standings with 18 points each. Sipula took individual medalist honors at the meet with a 1-over-par 73.
The Eagles were scheduled to wrap-up the conference series at Black Hawk’s home course in Port Byron, Illinois on May 4. The meet would serve as the determining factor as to which team wins the 2004 Arrowhead Conference Golf Championship.
“Being that this is my last meet, I’d really like to come out on top,” said Pinter prior to the May 4 tourney. “Since IVCC has never lost the conference, we need to win to keep the tradition alive.
“I’m confident we’ll win because of our abundant talent on our team,” he added.
The IVCC Eagles golf team has won the conference title every year since their placement in the Arrowhead Conference.
The conference championship runs on a point system in which the first place finisher at each meet receives five points on down to the fifth place team getting one point. At the conclusion of the five tournament series all team points are totaled and the highest number achieves the Arrowhead Conference golf title.
The final stop of the year for Price, Shevlin and Sipula, will be the NJCAA Division II National Golf Tournament in Phoenix,
Ariz., during the final week of May.
The three will represent IVCC nationally as they tee it up in hopes of achieving All-American honors and win the four-day event.