NIACC men place fifth at regional preview

AMES - The NIACC men's golf team placed fifth at the NJCAA Region XI preview tournament Monday at the Veenker Memorial Golf Course with a two-day total of 324-313 - 637.

Kirkwood was the regional preview champion with a 287-304 - 591 and DMACC was second with a 308-304 - 612.

NIACC was led by freshmen Austin Eckenrod with a 77-77 - 154 and Jackson Hamlin with a 77-78 - 155.

"The guys played much better (Monday) overall," NIACC coach Chris Frenz said about his team that improved by 11 strokes over Sunday's round. "It was great to see Austin Eckenrod and Jackson Hamlin follow up (Sunday's) round with another solid effort (Monday)."

Also for the Trojans, Ben Boerjan shot a 82-81 - 163, Zach Martin shot a 88-77 - 165, Matthew Heinemann shot a 88-85 - 173 and John Patterson shot a 97-88 - 185.

"I'm really excited with how Zach Martin bounced back from a disappointing round (Sunday) with a 77," Frenz said. "Ben was a bit off his game this weekend, but he'll be there in the spring and Matt played well (Monday), but just couldn't score."

NIACC returns to action Oct. 2 at the Iowa Wesleyan Tiger Classic.

Team standings - Kirkwood 287-304 - 581, DMACC 308-304 - 612, Iowa Lakes 310-306 - 611, Southwestern 307-322 - 629. NIACC 324-313 - 637, Northeast CC 329-329 - 658, Hawkeye CC 337-331 - 672, Southeastern 341-331 - 672, Iowa Central 377-365 - 742.