Malchow leads Trojans at 1st day of The Verhille Invite

NIACC's Bryce Malchow follows through on a shot Tuesday at the Finkbine Golf Course.
NIACC's Bryce Malchow follows through on a shot Tuesday at the Finkbine Golf Course.
April 18, 2023

IOWA CITY - Sophomore Bryce Malchow shot a 76 to lead the NIACC men's golf team during the first day of The Verhille Invitational Tuesday at the Finkbine Golf Course.

Malchow now has five straight rounds this spring in the 70s. Malchow shot a 79 on the second day of the Iowa Central Spring Invitational and had three straight rounds in the 70s at the Battle of Waterloo.

"I thought Bryce Malchow did an outstanding job of responding to some adversity late in the round after a four putt," NIACC coach Chris Frenz said, "but then he knocked a wedge in on a par five two holes later for eagle."

NIACC is in seventh place of the 14-team tournament with a 314 heading into Wednesday's final 18 holes. Kirkwood leads the tournament with a first-day total of 288 and DMACC is in second with a 296.

"The guys played well (Tuesday)," Frenz said, "and we're looking forward to climbing up the leaderboard (Wednesday). We're sitting five shot out of fourth place. As a team, we played our last two holes eight over par, so, obviously, that really hurt us."

Also for the Trojans Tuesday, sophomore Kai Nelles shot 77, freshman Tim Castle shot 80 and Jackson Koebernick shot 81

"Kai Nelles was battling an errant driver throughout the day, but scrambled beautifully," Frenz said. "Jackson Koebernick had a really good round going until the 17th hole got the best of him, but still performed well.

"I felt Tim Castle played better than his score indicates. He's really striking the ball well. He just needs to get his putter going."

NIACC's Elic Fjetland shot 84 and Anders Palmquist shot 87.

"Elic Fjetland did a great job of bouncing back on the back nine," Frenz said. "We're excited to see what we can do (Wednesday) on an outstanding golf course."

Team standings - Kirkwood 288, DMACC 296, Mount Mercy University 304, Culver Stockton 309, Baker University 311, Illinois Central 312, NIACC 314, St. Ambrose 316, Mount Mercy B 316, St. Ambrose B 320, Mount Mercy C 323, Viterbo 328, Iowa Wesleyan 329, Clarke University 330.