On Sunday night in Springfield, with the Benedictine Invitational beginning the next morning, he was walking back to the team's hotel with roommate and teammate Sam Waters, a freshman from Valier.
"I told [Sam], 'I feel good. I think I might win this week.' And he said that's the attitude you need."
Holland, the son of Steve and Tracie Holland of Maryville, woke up Monday and birdied five straight holes with seven total and no bogies for a 65 in the first round. That score breaks an 18-hole record 66 that has stood at RLC for more than a decade. To add to that honor, Holland turned in a 70 in the second round to take tournament medalist at 65-70-135.
He did it against obstacles - cool in the morning and standing water all over the course from rainy conditions. Holland knew the 65 was good, but he didn't learn until the drive home from Springfield that he had broken the RLC record.
"That's awesome," he said after learning what he'd done. "There's so much history at Rend Lake in golf. That's amazing. … But it could have been any one of us. Matt [Walton] has been putting in numerous hours. We are all working hard and it's good to see some results right now with our invitational coming up and the region tournament [in May]. I just had a good day. I had fun and just relaxed."
Rend Lake Head Coach Dave Smith said, "I started coaching in '89 and in any [previous] records they had, I never found any scores like that. Since I've been coaching, we've had three guys shoot 66." Two of the former Warriors with 66 are RLC Hall of Famers Matt Armstrong and the late Jace Bugg.
"That's pretty good company," Smith said.
Holland was tournament medalist by nine strokes and the Warriors as a team won first place over McKendree University by 11.
"He just played lights out," RLC Assistant Coach Lucas Cromeenes said about Holland. "I think he had 24 putts for the whole round. That's really good. It was pretty cool."
The Warriors shot a consistent 291-291-582. It was a team effort, Cromeenes explained. He said sophomore Kade Baker (Brazil, Ind.), RLC's fourth man, shot a solid 77 first round but faltered with an 85 the second round. But Waters, who struggled with a first round 81, stepped up and birdied the last three holes to card a 74 in the second round. Sophomore leader Matt Walton (Lancashire, England) shot a little higher than his average, 74-75 and sophomore Joe Scholl (Calvert City, Ky.) finished fourth in the tournament at 75-72.
"That was big for us to stay that far ahead of the field," Cromeenes said of Waters' late surge. "They picked each other up for sure."
Holland is a graduate of Collinsville High School. The Warriors will host the RLC Invitational, Sunday and Monday, April 17 and 18, at Rend Lake Golf Course in Whittington. For all things athletic at The Lake, visit the college online at www.rlc.edu/warriors.