An IHCC Presence at National Golf Meet

Ottumwa -- A current Indian Hills Community College golfer and a former IHCC player are included in the field for the 2011 Patriot All-America Invitational to be played next week.

IHCC sophomore Jon Paul Blampied and Steven Ihm, who along with Blampied was a key member of last year’s Indian Hills team that was the NJCAA Division I golf national champions, are preparing to take part in the 54-hole tournament that will be played Dec. 28-30 at Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield Park, Arizona.

Ihm, a sophomore, is now attending the University of Iowa and is a member of the Hawkeyes’ golf team.

The field for the Arizona event will include 84 collegiate golfers from across the nation, and includes 21 of the world’s top-100 ranked amateurs.

Both Blampied, from Durban, South Africa, and Ihm, from Peosta, Iowa, were named PING All-Americans after their performance in last spring’s national championship meet. Players earning PING All-American honors from the previous season in the NJCAA, NAIA and the three divisions of the NCAA are eligible to be invited to participate in the Patriot All-America.

“This is truly an elite field of collegians and the first opportunity for them to go heads up in tournament competition,” said Ed Gowan, executive director of the Arizona Golf Association, one of the partners in the tourney.

The sponsors are partnering with the Folds of Honor Foundation to host the inaugural event. To show support for Folds of Honor, each golfer will carry a commemorative PING golf bag bearing the name of a fallen soldier from the community in which they live or attend school.

Another former IHCC Warrior, Dan Dawson, was also a PING All-American last spring and was eligible to compete in the tournament next week. But Dawson is back in his native England and won’t be playing.