Vikings finish fifth in the CCIW; go 103-83 head-to-head; take third at Iowa Wesleyan Fall Invite and fourth at Aurora Double Gun; Alex Sierra shares medalist honors twice, named team MVP
 
The 2017-18 season saw Coach Paul Del Vecchio's Augustana golf team finish fifth at the CCIW Championships, a jump of one spot from a year ago. The Vikings posted a head-to-head record of 103-83 (.554) and finished with an NCAA Division III ranking of 118th by GolfStat.com. The team's top performances were a fourth-place effort at the 20-team Aurora Double Gun Invite and third of 12 teams at the Iowa Wesleyan Fall Invitational.
 
Individually, junior Alex Sierra (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) recorded a pair of first-place finishes. He tied for medalist honors with matching rounds of 71 at the CCIW Preview Tournament on September 22 and at the Iowa Wesleyan Fall Invite on October 5. He carded Augustana's lowest round of the year in taking second (68-73—141) at the Aurora Double Gun on September 5. In addition, Sierra would have recorded the Vikings' first top-ten CCIW finish since 2007, but a mistake on his second-round scorecard caused his disqualification and cost him what would have been a ninth-place finish.
 
Sierra was Del Vecchio's low scorer this year with an average 76.7 strokes—12th-best in school history—over 20 rounds. He was named the Vikings' Most Valuable Player.
 
Freshman Jack Neenan (Benet Academy, Naperville, Ill.), Augustana's Newcomer of the Year, played all 21 rounds this season and was second behind Sierra with an average of 79.0 strokes. He recorded a pair of top-ten finishes, tying for fourth (76-76—152) at the Jim Wetherbee Memorial on March 30 and taking 10th (73-75—148) at the Aurora Double Gun. Neenan finished 23rd (76-77-81-82—316) at the CCIW Championship.
 
Senior Ben Groselak (Lemont HS, Lemont, Ill.) earned Most Improved recognition after averaging 79.1 strokes over nine rounds, all in the spring. His average was third on the team and he was the Vikings' top finisher at the CCIW Championship, carding an 80-80-78-77—315 to tie for 19th. Groselak's low round of the year was 76 at the Wetherbee Memorial and Augustana Invitational.
 
Dylan Flock (Maroa-Forsyth HS, Forsyth, Ill.) joined classmate Neenan as the only Vikings to play all 21 rounds this year. Flock averaged 80.4 strokes, fourth-best on the team, and his low round of the year (74) came on the second day of the Fighting Scot Invitational on April 28. His highest finish was 20th (78) at Iowa Wesleyan and he was 28th (80-83-79-81—323) at the CCIW Champioship.
 
Senior Gabe Askam (Jacobs HS, West Dundee, Ill.), who shared captain duties with Sierra, was the only other Augustana golfer to compete in a majority of this season's rounds. He played 15, averaging 81.4 strokes and carding bests of 75 at Carthage's Tim Kopka Memorial on September 9 and at the Augustana Invitational on April 13. His 12th-place 76 at Iowa Wesleyan marked his highest finish.
 
 
2018 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN CHAMPIONSHIP
May 3-5, 2018 *** Joliet Country Club *** Joliet, Illinois
Par 72, 6565 yards
 

Rank	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Total	Par
1	Illinois Wesleyan	283	294	293	303	1173	+21
2	Carthage	296	290	300	289	1175	+23
3	Wheaton	312	307	306	305	1230	+78
4	Millikin	309	302	310	312	1233	+81
5	AUGUSTANA	310	320	312	312	1254	+102
6	Elmhurst	325	328	315	324	1292	+140
7	Carroll	317	326	337	318	1298	+146
8	North Central	335	335	319	336	1325	+173
9	North Park	335	326	327	341	1329	+177

 

Rank	Player	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3		Total	Par
1	Meneghetti, Matt	Carthage	75	74	71	69	289	+1
	O'Neil, Conner	Illinois Wesleyan	69	73	70	77	289	+1
3	Knutson, Jordan	Carthage	73	70	76	71	290	+2
4	Johnson, Ben	Illinois Wesleyan	70	74	73	76	293	+5
5	Wuethrich, Rob	Illinois Wesleyan	73	74	73	76	296	+8
6	Anderson, Reid	Carthage	74	76	74	75	299	+11
7	Nocek, Jonathan	Illinois Wesleyan	71	73	77	79	300	+12
8	Vath, Joe	Carthage	74	70	79	79	302	+14
9	LeVine, Skylar	Illinois Wesleyan	75	76	79	74	304	+16
10	Forrest, Ryan	Millikin	78	75	76	77	306	+18
t19	Groselak, Ben	AUGUSTANA	80	80	78	77	315	+27
23	Neenan, Jack	AUGUSTANA	76	77	81	82	316	+28
26	Jayne, Cory	AUGUSTANA	75	80	85	79	319	+31
28	Flock, Dylan	AUGUSTANA	80	83	79	81	323	+35

 
2017-18 AUGUSTANA SUPERLATIVES
GOLFSTAT.COM NCAA DIVISION III RANKING: 118
AUGUSTANA TEAM FINISHES
4th—Aurora Double Gun (09/05/17, 21 teams)... 7th—Carthage Tim Kopka Memorial (09/08-09/17, 20 teams)... 12th—Midwest Region Classic (09/15-16/17, 35 teams)... 5th—CCIW Preview (09/22/17, 9 teams)... 3rd—Iowa Wesleyan Fall Invite (10/05/17, 12 teams)... 17th—Linda Lowery Invitational (02/26-27/18, 18 teams)... 6th—Jim Wetherbee Memorial (3/30/18, 20 teams)... 9th—Augustana Invitational (04/13/18, 18 teams)... 12th—Millikin Take Back the Night (04/21-22/18, 17 teams)... 8th—Fighting Scot Invitational (04/27-28/18, 13 teams)... 5th—CCIW Championship (05/03-05/18, 9 teams)
INDIVIDUAL TOP TEN FINISHERS IN INVITATIONALS
09/05/17—Aurora Double Gun (2nd—Alex Sierra, 68-73—141; 10th—Jack Neenan, 73-75—148)
09/22/17—CCIW Preview (T1st—Alex Sierra, 71)
10/05/17—Iowa Wesleyan Fall Invite (T1st—Alex Sierra 71)
03/30/18—Jim Wetherbee Memorial (T4th—Jack Neenan, 76-76—152)
CCIW ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Gabe Askam, Ben Groselak, Cory Jayne, Klaas-Jan Kroner, Dalton Love
 
TEAM AWARDS
MOST VALUBALE PLAYER – Alex Sierra
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Jack Neenan
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER – Ben Groselak