Alan Hoskins, Supervisor of Public Information
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
College Advancement
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s young team may have come of age in the annual Blue Devil Classic at Dub’s Dread Monday and Tuesday.
Led by freshmen Ben Gordon and Jerry Chase and sophomore Ben Moser, the Blue Devils had three of the top six finishers on the way to capturing first place honors in a 14-team field that included Jayhawk Conference leader Johnson County and several four-year colleges.
The Blue Devils grabbed the early lead with a 310 total and added a 314 in blustery conditions Tuesday for a 624 which was five shots better than Missouri Southern’s JV (329). Johnson County (630), Graceland Blue (648) and Northwestern Oklahoma (663) rounded out the top five.
A freshman from Marion, Kan., Gordon finished second in a scorecard playoff with rounds of 77-75-152. Clay Crawford of Independence nipped Gordon by a stroke for medalist honors with Olof Tunburg of Northwestern Oklahoma third and Trevor Johanson of Johnson County fourth, both also at 152.
Moser, the lone sophomore on KCKCC’s five-man squad from Washburn Rural, grabbed the first day lead with a par 72 but slipped to an 81 Tuesday and finished fifth at 153 while Chase, a frosh from Sabetha, was sixth with a 77-78-155.
Freshmen Nate Deghand (84-80-164) of Shawnee Heights and Trace McDiffett (89-83-172) rounded out of the KCKCC scoring. The Blue Devils also got solid performances from freshmen Cole Murrin (79-84-163) of Fort Scott and Daniel Trout (82-86-168) of St. Thomas Aquinas and sophomore Logan Rotha (80-88-168) of Goddard.
“It’s always fun to win your own tournament,” said Coach Gary Shrader. “While we’ve seen Dub’s more than the other teams, we don’t get to play it that much and you still have to execute the shots. We’ve got a pretty young team (two sophs) and its fun to see the freshmen go out and put up some pretty good numbers.”
Shrader was particularly pleased with the course management of the Blue Devils. “One of our goals is to par all the par 5’s and Moser and Gordon did that both days and Chase all but one each day,” said Shrader. “Luke Gordon can hit the ball a long way but he doesn’t have to and was hitting it where it gave him his best chance. Jerry Chase did not make the first two tournaments but I’m really thrilled the way he has improved.”
The Blue Devils, who are fourth in the Jayhawk at the halfway point of the season, will close out the fall season competing in the Iowa-Kansas Clash to be held at Ironhorse in Leawood.