Andy Petersen April 24, 2009

Petersen tames Finkbine to take lead

IOWA CITY—Fierce winds and fast greens didn’t deter Central College’s Andy Petersen (senior, Davenport, West HS) in his bid for another Iowa Conference men’s golf title Friday.

The two-time defending champion fired a 3-under-par 69 at the Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City to jump to a 4-stroke lead. But 2008 champion Luther College is the early team leader with 309. Central followed at 313 with Loras College at 315, Buena Vista Univ. at 318 and Wartburg College at 328 in the 72-hole tourney.

Justin Smool (junior, Bagley, Panorama HS) and Matt Vegter (freshman, Morrison, Ill.) each turned in an 80 with Jason Harvey (sophomore, Goldfield, Clarion-Goldfield HS) and Andrew Townsend (junior, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS) each at 84.

Coach Charlie Estabrook said Petersen’s round was remarkable.

“I’m very proud of Andy,” he said. “If you’d told me at the start of the day that somebody would shoot a 69 in these conditions, I would have said you were crazy.

“He hit fairways, he hit greens, he didn’t get into trouble anywhere and his short game was unbelievable.”

Estabrook said even putting was an adventure Friday.

“The greens were very hard and fast,” he said. “Chipping downwind was extremely tough.”

Nonetheless, Estabrook was looking for better scores from the rest of the lineup.

“I’m disappointed,” he said. “What we need to do on days like this is stay positive and grind it out from holes 1 to 18. We worked hard but we didn’t perform very well.”

Golfers will likely face an additional challenge Saturday as thunderstorms are expected. Estabrook’s squad spent time on the practice range after Friday’s round, most of it devoted to the short game. Estabrook is hopeful that the Dutch will see better results Saturday.

“We worked on chipping and putting, trying to sharpen things up,” he said. “You’re not going to hit a lot of greens in conditions like this. But you’ve got to stay positive, chip it close and make putts.

“We need to bring a positive attitude with us to the course Saturday. We’re not going to let the weather conditions get to us.”