COAL VALLEY, Ill. — No. 11 Highland Community College men's golf continued its strong fall season with a runner-up finish at the Battle for the Mississippi at Oakwood Country Club, highlighted by Austin Dobbe capturing individual medalist honors at 3-under par.

Highland posted rounds of +6, +5 and +10 to finish at +21, just one stroke behind tournament champion Heartland Community College (+20).

The Cougars finished ahead of three teams ranked above them nationally — No. 4 Black Hawk College, No. 6 Des Moines Area Community College and T-No. 10 Iowa Central Community College.

Highland saved its best performance relative to the field for Tuesday's final round. The Cougars' 10-over team score was the lowest of the day by four strokes, helping Highland secure second place. The Cougars finished nine strokes ahead of Iowa Central, 17 ahead of Black Hawk and 22 ahead of Des Moines Area.

Dobbe Captures Second Title of the Fall

Dobbe led the Cougars throughout the championship, opening with a 3-under round before posting consecutive even-par rounds to finish the 54-hole event at -3.

Entering the final round tied for the lead, Dobbe remained steady as scoring conditions became more difficult. His even-par finish secured a two-stroke victory over Heartland's Luca Bianchi (-1), while Black Hawk's Aidan Dorathy finished third at even par.

The championship is Dobbe's second collegiate victory of the fall season, adding to his 7-under medalist performance in Wisconsin earlier this fall.

Team captain A.J. Anderson gave Highland another top finish, placing T11 at +7 with rounds of +4, +1 and +2.

Jonathan Huenink finished T18 at +11, while Jake Maloret rebounded from an opening +9 with rounds of +1 and +3 to climb nine positions during the final round and finish T25 at +13.

Jack Maharaj finished T32 at +16, while Griffin Blanch, competing individually, moved up 10 spots in the final round to finish T21 at +12.

Historic Fall Continues

The runner-up finish comes just one week after Highland captured the 2026 Arrowhead Conference Championship, its sixth conference title in program history and second in the last three seasons.

That victory was Highland's fourth team championship of the fall, setting a new program record for wins in a fall season.

The Cougars followed it by coming within one stroke of another championship while defeating three nationally ranked teams positioned ahead of Highland in the polls.

Highland Individual Results

Highland will close its fall schedule at the ICC Cougar Clash on Monday, Oct. 12, at Atkins Golf Club in Champaign.
FULL RESULTS