#2 Kirkwood Finishes 2nd at Mustang Fall Classic
Cedar Rapids, IA- The 2024-25 Preseason Bushnell/Golfweek NJCAA DII Coaches Poll put Kirkwood at #2 overall and they were determined to come out and play like it at their first Fall competition at Hunter's Ridge Golf Course. The Eagles have 5 returning sophomores and 3 new freshman this year. Kirkwood would begin the Mustang Fall Classic this year with Quinn Tinkler, Reid Hall, Nathan Offerman, Leo Burger, and Payton Burns with Aaron Estell and Tate Brunk both competing as individuals.
In the first round of competition on Saturday, Sophomore Quinn Tinkler and freshman Reid Hall would both shoot a +1 (73). Tinkler would put up a team high 5 birdies in the round but a triple on 13 would keep him from going even lower. Sophomores Nathan Offerman and Leo Burger were right on their heels with Offerman shooting +2 (74) and Burger with a +3 (75). Payton Burns would round up the team with a +6 (78) while individual Tate Brunk would put a team-best E (72) in the first round and Aaron Estell would card a +4 (76). The Eagles would shoot a 295 as a team and that was good enough for second place finish after day one.
Day 2 would see two stand out perfromances from the Eagles individual competitors. Aaron Estell would card a Kirkwood best 68 (-4) on Sunday and Tate Brunk would also shoot in red numbers, putting up a -1 (71) in the final round. The team participants for Kirkwood would see some very consistent scores with all 5 members shooting within 1 stroke of one another. Burger, Offerman, and Hall would all shoot +1 (73) and Burns and Tinkler would each shoot E (72). The 290 final score would keep Kirkwood in second place behind hosts, Mt Mercy.
The next competition for Kirkwood is this coming Friday and Saturday at the Irv Warren Golf Course where they will be competing in the Battle of Waterloo Tournament.
