Division II Championships Head to Blue Top Ridge

The final tournament for many and the qualifying tournament for the Division II Men's Golf National Championships will be taking place in Riverside, Iowa this weekend. Blue Top Ridge Golf Course will play host for the two-day Region XI Championship tournament on Saturday and Sunday. The 54-hole event begins at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, with 36 holes played for the day. The third and final round will begin Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m.

The Kirkwood Eagles enter as the No. 5 ranked team in NJCAA Division II, and not far behind them, the Iowa Central Tritons are ranked eighth and looking to break through for a championship.

There clearly is some team talent sitting in Iowa because four other teams are ranked in the NJCAA Division II top-25. The DMACC Bears are sitting at No. 11, Hawkeye sits at No. 18, NIACC at 20, and Iowa Lakes at 22. All of these teams will be looking for the opportunity to take home some hardware and potentially make a run at qualifying for the National Championship that will be held in Plymouth, Ind. at the end of May. 

Kirkwood has been dominating the competition as the Eagles have won the last five regional titles dating back to 2015. Kirkwood has a top ten golfer in the nation according to Golfstat. Sophomore James Morgan, 2019 individual champion, has been among the most consistent players all year and is coming off a win that saw him shoot a six-under par and win by four strokes. Right behind Morgan in the rankings for Kirkwood, Kolby Schackelford is also looking to qualify for the national tournament in his freshman year. 

The only other top 20 ranked golfer that will be participating this weekend plays at Iowa Central. Austin Erickson is only a freshman but playing as if he has years of experience at the collegiate level. 

The leader of the DMACC team is the sophomore Dylan Ellis. Ellis has been a veteran and helped the Bears become a team that looks to break into the top-10 and end Kirkwood's streak of winning the Region XI Title. Another sophomore to look out for on the Bears roster is Joe Dean, who has the game that can always produce low numbers. 

The top three teams and the next two best individuals not on the qualifying teams will advance to the 2021 NJCAA Championships at Swan Lake Golf and Resort on 18-21. 

Blue Top Ridge Website

Region XI Championship History