Trojans place fifth at Jim Currell Invitational

BOONE - The NIACC men's golf team placed fifth at DMACC's Jim Currell Invitational on Friday at the Cedar Pointe Golf Course with a 305.

Iowa Western was the team champion with a 284 and Iowa Central was second with a 288.

NIACC was led by freshman Garrett Ham with a 70, which was good for fourth in the individual medalist competition. Iowa Western's Steven Gormley was the individual medalist with a 67.

The 70 by Ham was one off his career-best round of 69 shot at the NIACC Fall Invitational on Sept. 17.

"It was a beautiful day to play good golf," NIACC coach Chris Frenz said, "and Garrett Ham took advantage with a sold 2-under 70.

"Garrett had a string of of five birdies in a row on the front nine but also had a couple of unfortunate bounces on the back nine where he went out of bounds once and had to swing left-handed another time. He's a solid player and is never out a round."

Also for the Trojans, freshman Drew DeGabriele shot 78, freshman Ian Roske shot 78, freshman Ashtin Willms shot 79 and sophomore Tommy Birdsell shot 79.

"The other guys played well, Frenz said, "but we need to be better than average to continue to climb our way up the leaderboard. Seventies are always a good thing, but we need to be in the lower 70s to win."

The NIACC B team shot 334 and placed ninth. Freshman Brady Nygren shot 81, Brody Frayne shot 82, Gavin Anderson shot 85 and Sam Van Brocklin shot 86.

NIACC returns to action Sunday at the Waldorf University Fall Invitational at the Wedgewood Golf Course in Albert Lea, Minn.

Team standings - Iowa Western 284, Iowa Central 288, Iowa Lakes 296, DMACC 304, NIACC 305, Hawkeye CC C team 312, Hawkeye CC B team 316, Iowa Lakes B team 325, NIACC B team 334.

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