June 1, 2004
2004 Men's Golf Review
Freshman Trent Martin wins College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin individual title as Vikings place second; Freshman Stuart Steenhoek is selected as Augustana’s Most Outstanding Player
It was definitely a year for the youngsters on the 2004 Augustana College men’s golf team. A pair of freshmen: Stuart Steenhoek (Pella HS, Pella, IA) and Trent Martin (York HS, Elmhurst, IL) and a sophomore (Elgin St. Edwards HS, Elgin, IL) held down the top three spots in terms of low average. Thanks to the infusion of young talent, the Vikings of head coach Grey Giovanine turned in another highly successful season.
It was Martin who made the biggest splash when he won the individual medallist award at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championship on May 1 at the Pekin Elks Club in Pekin, Illinois. Martin, buoyed by a hole-in-one, the first ever in CCIW tournament history, raced off to a first day lead with a score of 69. He managed to hold on down the stretch with a second day score of 79, giving him a two day total of 148. That was one stroke better than North Park’s Matt Lindhal, who had a 149 with rounds of 71 and 78.
Martin became the 14th player in Augustana history to win an individual CCIW championship. He is the third Viking in the last five years to stand atop the winner’s podium in the conference, joining Jay Mellentine in 1999 and Scott Peterson in 2002 as the most recent Augustana title holders.
Thanks in a big part to Martin’s heroics the Vikings placed second in the CCIW team standings with a score of 623, finishing just five strokes behind Illinois Wesleyan’s winning total of 618. Augustana shot a 300 the first day and 323 on day two while the Titans posted daily scores of 306 and 312.
While Martin was winning the individual title, senior teammate Mitch Heckenkamp (Moline HS, Moline, IL) was earning all-conference honors with a ninth place finish thanks to a two day score of 157 (79 78).
Steenhoek was chosen as the Vikings’ “Most Outstanding Player” for the 2004 season. He was one of just two players to perform in all 17 rounds for the Vikings of head coach Grey Giovanine and he led the team with a low average of 76.7. He totaled 1,304 strokes over the 17 rounds and had a low score of 70.
He started his collegiate career with a bang, shooting a 70 in his first match back on September 21 in a dual meet with Knox at Highland Springs Golf Course in Southwest Rock Island. He maintained that number one position throughout the season, placing 18th at the Prairie Fire Classic on March 26-27, sixth in the Augustana Invitational on April 3-4, ninth in the Wartburg Invitational on April 9-10, seventh in the Illinois Wesleyan Classic on April 23-24 and fifth at the Quad City Classic on April 26.
Martin was tabbed as the “Newcomer of the Year” and Heckenkamp was named “Most Improved Player”. Sophomore Joey Childers (Elgin St. Edward’s HS, Elgin, IL) had the third best average on the team as he checked in at 77.8 with 1,246 strokes over 16 rounds.
As a team the Vikings were fourth in their own Augustana Invitational and placed second in the Quad City Collegiate Classic. For the first time the CCIW allowed competition in the fall and in the first outing back on September 21 the Vikings recorded a score of 292 in a dual meet victory over Knox. In the first round of the Augustana Invitational on April 2 the Blue & Gold turned in its best round of the year with a score of 288.
2004 CCIW Tournament
April 30 & May 1, 2004
Pontiac Elks Club in Pontiac, Illinois
| Place | Team | Day One | Day Two | Total |
| 1. | Illinois Wesleyan | 306 | 312 | 618 |
| 2. | Augustana | 300 | 323 | 623 |
| 3. | Millikin | 303 | 323 | 626 |
| 4. | North Park | 299 | 329 | 628 |
| 5. | Carthage | 319 | 322 | 641 |
| 6. | North Central | 322 | 322 | 644 |
| 7. | Elmhurst | 317 | 339 | 656 |
| 8. | Wheaton | 318 | 345 | 663 |
| Place | Player | Team | Day One | Day Two | Total |
| 1. | Trent Martin | Augustana | 69 | 79 | 148 |
| 2. | Matt Lindahl | North Park | 71 | 78 | 149 |
| 3. | Peter Johnson | North Park | 70 | 81 | 151 |
| 4. | Steve Gillie | Carthage | 77 | 75 | 152 |
| 5. | Billy Smith | Illinois Wesleyan | 78 | 75 | 153 |
| Chad Golembeck | Illinois Wesleyan | 77 | 76 | 153 | |
| Mark Linton | Millikin | 74 | 79 | 153 | |
| 8. | Eric Hellman | Illinois Wesleyan | 73 | 82 | 155 |
| 9. | Josh Mulligan | Millikin | 74 | 83 | 157 |
| Mitch Heckenkamp | Augustana | 79 | 78 | 157 | |
| 11. | Ben Johannsen | Augustana | 74 | 84 | 158 |
| 28. | Joey Childers | Augustana | 85 | 82 | 167 |
| 36. | Stuart Steenhoek | Augustana | 78 | 92 | 170 |
2004 Augustana Men's Golf Superlatives
Most Outstanding Player– Stuart Steenhoek
Newcomer of the Year – Trent Martin
Most Improved Player– Mitch Heckenkamp
CCIW Individual Champion– Trent Martin with score of 148 (69 79)
CCIW Top Ten Finishers– Trent Martin (1st with 148) and Mitch Heckenkamp (9th with 157)
Knox Dual Meet Individual Medalist– Stuart Steenhoek with 70
Prairie Fire Invitational Top 15– Joey Childers 15th with score of 151 (70 81)
Augustana Invitational Top 10 – Stuart Steenhoek 6th with score of 144 (70 74)
Wartburg Invitational Top 10 – Stuart Steenhoek 9th with 146 (71 75)
Big Blue Classic Top 10 – Joey Childers 3rd with 147 (72 75)
Illinois Wesleyan Invitational Top 15 – Stuart Steenhoek 7th with 149 (74 75) and Trent Martin 13th with 151 (71 80)
Quad City Classic Top 10 – Stuart Steenhoek 4th with 73 and Trent Martin fifth with 74
