NIACC's Boerjan fires 70 at Wartburg Invite

WAVERLY - The NIACC men's golf team shot a first-day 312 on Friday at the Wartburg College Invitational at the Prairie Links Golf Course.

NIACC was led by sophomore Ben Boerjan, who shot a 70. The 70 was one off Boerjan's career best round of 69 at the Grand View September Shootout on Sept. 17, 2018.

"Ben played really well (Friday) with nine birdies," NIACC coach Chris Frenz said.

Boerjan is in a four-way tie for third heading into Saturday's second round with his 70. DMACC's Noah Hartman leads the field with an opening round 68.

NIACC is in a tie for sixth with Coe College with its first-round 312. DMACC leads the 14-team field with a 286 and Kirkwood is in second with a 286.

Also for the Trojans Friday, Austin Eckenrod shot an 80, Zach Martin shot a 81 and Matthew Heinemann shot an 81. John Patterson shot an 83 and Jackson Hamlin shot an 86.

"The rest of the guys aren't happy with how they played," Frenz said, "but we'll make the adjustments needed for Saturday.

"Teamwise, we shot our best score of the early season with still plenty of room to improve."

NIACC opened the season by shooting a 321-318 - 639 at the Kirkwood Eagle Spring Classic in late March.

Frenz said he was pleased with Patterson's effort on Friday even though he didn't count in the team scoring for the Trojans.

"I'm really excited with how John Patterson played (Friday)," the coach said. "He struggled in practice this week and he worked exceptionally hard to correct what was happening. What a gritty performance for him (Friday)."

The final round of the tournament is slated to start at 9 a.m. on Saturday.