Castle leads Trojans at district golf tourney

WATERLOO - Sophomore Tim Castle shot 76-77-76 - 229 to lead the NIACC men's golf team Tuesday at the NJCAA North Central District Tournament at Gates Park Golf Course.

The first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament were played on Monday while the final 18 holes were played on Tuesday.

NIACC shot 311-307-315 - 933 as a team and placed 10th in the team standings.

"The final outcome isn't what we were hoping for coming to the district tournament," NIACC coach Chris Frenz said, "but I thought we played some of our best team golf of the season and this group of guys gave me everything they had, so you can't beat that."

Castle's 3-round total of 229 tied him for 25th in the individual medalist standings.

"Tim Castle had a tremendous sophomore season and really grew as a player and a competitior," Frenz said. "He was one the better players in our region and that's saying a lot because our region is loaded."

Also for the Trojans, sophomore Jackson Koebernick shot 80-75-79 - 234, sophomore Anders Palmquist shot 78-78-81 - 237 and sophomore Elic Fjetland shot 88-77-84 - 249.

"The other sophomores Jackson Koebernick, Elic Fjetland, Anders Palmquist and Mitchell Staudt battled over the past two years for those other spots on the roster," Frenz said, "and they really represented NIACC very well. It gets emotional when it ends because I always appreciate the time and effort these guys give to me and to the sport that they love."

NIACC freshman Tommy Birdsell, who played the first round Monday and shot 77, recorded a 79 in his Tuesday round.

"Tommy Birdsell had a nice district tournament after battling knee surgery earlier in the season," Frenz said, "and I'm really looking forward to him being a leader of a nice group of recruits coming in next year."

Kirkwood was the district champion with a 289-297-284 - 870 and DMACC placed second with a 293-295-297 - 885. Southeast CC earned the final national qualifying spot with its third-place team finish with a 298-296-295 - 889.

Team standings - Kirkwood 289-297-284 - 870, DMACC 293-295-297 - 885, Southeast CC 298-296-295 - 889, Iowa Central 300-295-295 - 890, Northeast CC 300-294-304 - 898, Hawkeye CC 306-302-293 - 901, Alexandria Tech 298-305-307 - 910, Iowa Lakes 318-299-309 - 926, Southwestern 314-315-301 - 930, NIACC 311-307-315 - 933, North Platte CC 320-321-313 - 954, Central CC-Columbus 321-316-321 - 958, Southeastern 346-319-319 - 984.