OTTUMWA — Heading into Tuesday’s final round of the Community 1st Credit Union Invitational, Indian Hills head golf coach Mike Hagen was concerned about his team getting off to a slow start.

It didn’t take long for freshman Connor Peck to ease his coach’s concern.

The Warrior freshman eagled his very first hole of the day, the par-five third, to get his day and his team’s day off to a fast start. The Ankeny native backed up his eagle with three birdies on the next four holes, vaulting himself to the top of the leaderboard while helping IHCC pad a cushion to their five-shot lead entering Tuesday’s final round.

“It helps out quite a bit when your can start out a round that way,” Peck said. “54 holes are a lot of holes, so you just have to keep it going.”

“Connor had a great tournament. He played great golf and had a great start,” Hagen added.

Peck ultimately used that fantastic start to finish with a five-under par 67, propelling the Warrior freshmen to a runner-up finish while leading IHCC to a 13-shot victory over in-state rival Iowa Western. It took a matching round of 67 by Iowa Western’s Jimmy Jaskoske to keep Peck from winning his first medalist honor in his second intercollegiate meet.

Jaskoske, who began the day one shot and one group ahead of Peck, kept pace throughout the day as the two players moved their way up the leaderboard quickly until both players were the only two under par midway through the final round. The Reiver linkster used back-to-back birdies to start his day to move to even par, then kept it rolling on the back nine with a relaxed attitude guiding him along.

“I tried to come out here and have fun,” Jaskoske said. “The weather was so much different than the second round, which was brutal. This was a beautiful day for golf, so the attitude was to come out, have fun and see what I could do.

“It was just a nice round of golf. I wasn’t trying to do anything too crazy. It was stress-free for the most part.”

Peck and Jaskoske battled stroke for stroke for the individual title in a two-man battle that would have been worthy of any final round duel. Because they were in separate groups, both players were able to focus solely on their own games through their last 18 holes and came off the Ottumwa Country Club course with the same relaxed demeanor they entered the day with.

“It was in my mind (that I was in contention for the individual title), but I tried to block it out and stick to my game plan,” Jaskoske said. “You can’t effect what everyone else is doing, you can only effect what you’re doing. I just tried to grind it out and stay in the moment. You never know where you’ll end up.”

For Peck, the final round of the Warriors’ lone home fall tournament was the freshman’s second of six rounds in the 60s to start his college career. In his first round as part of the Indian Hills program, Peck fired an amazing 64 at the Wichita State Shocker Invitational and is keeping his strategy simple in order to be successful.

“I just came in hitting the ball really well and making a lot of good putts. It seems easy when you can hit the ball in the fairway and get the ball on the greens,” Peck said. “I’ve been playing competitively for a lot of years, so it’s just a matter of going out a playing another tournament.”

“Connor’s a pretty laid back kid. He’s got plenty of confidence in his game and he’s showing that right now,” Hagen added.

Hagen’s day was also fairly stress free as IHCC used a balanced team effort to get back on the winning track. All five members of the Warrior golf team remained among the top 10 individuals to help Indian Hills post a 287 final round, rallying back after trailing Iowa Western by seven shots after the first round of play on Monday.

With Peck leading the way, Hagen talked about every member of the Warriors that helped IHCC rebound after losing at the Shocker Invite to open the fall season.

“Collin (Pearson) actually got off to a slow start. He was five-over through his first five holes and got it back to two-over for the day, so it was nice to see him hang in there and scrap it out to post a solid number for us,” Hagen said. “William (White) had a little trouble finding his golf swing throughout the tournament and didn’t hit the ball well, but his short game really saved him.”

With several freshman stepping up early in the fall season, several Warrior sophomores have been able to play with more confidence in the early portion of the year, which continues on October 14 at the Cougar Golf Classic in Chicago.

“Last year, we only had two returning sophomores from the previous team and it seemed to put immediate pressure on the freshmen to step up,” Hagen said. “Having this group of freshmen step up and play as well as they have so far this year takes that pressure of the guys that are now sophomores. They know we should be able to keep it going in the right direction.”

Community 1st Credit Union Invitational

At Ottumwa Country Club

9/18/12

Par 72

Team scoring — 1. Indian Hills 297-290-287-874, 2. Iowa Western 290-302-295-887, 3. Johnson County 294-314-303-911, 4. Hutchinson 311-314-302-927, 5. Independence 309-316-325-950, 6. Iowa Lakes 329-320-328-977, 7. Kansas City (Kansas) 337-328-320-985, 8. Iowa Lakes ‘B’ 338-320-344-1036, 9. Northeast 361-349-341-1051.

Medalist — Jimmy Jaskoske (Iowa Western) 71-75-67-213.

Runner-up — Connor Peck (Indian Hills) 73-74-67-214.

Top ten individuals — 3. Michael O’Connor (Hutchinson) 68-77-73-218, 4. Mitch Tucker (IHCC) 74-70-75-219, 5. William White (IHCC) 74-75-71-220, T6. Colin Pearson (IHCC) 76-73-74-223, T6. Mairo Funcic (Johnson County) 72-79-72-223, 8. Jose Pelayo (IWCC) 72-78-74-224, 9. Ben Ludlam (IHCC) 76-73-76-225, 10. Max McGrail (Iowa Western) 72-69-85-226.

IHCC individuals — 2. Peck 73-74-67-214, 4. Tucker 74-70-75-219, 5. White 74-75-71-220, T6. Pearson 76-73-74-223, 9. Ludlam 76-73-76-225.