NIACC men place fourth at Clarke Invitational
PEOSTA - The NIACC men's golf team placed fourth at the Clarke University Invitational Sunday at the Thunder Hills Golf Course.
NIACC shot a 311-303 - 614 for its fourth-place finish. St. Ambrose won the tournament with a 299-286 - 585. William Penn was second with a 304-299 - 603.
Sophomore Chris Staudt led the Trojans with a 74-72 - 146, which was fourth in the individual medalist competition. Sophomore Sam Steinwand was next in line for the Trojans with a 75-73 - 148.
"We played very well (Sunday) as a team," NIACC coach Chris Frenz said, "and I couldn't be more encouraged about how came down here and competed at a high level on a tough course.
"It obviously helps when you have two sophomores leading the way in Chris Staudt and Sam Steinwand, but the efforts of the freshmen were really good and everyone counted a score over the two-day tournament."
Staudt's 74 and 72 were the two best rounds of his NIACC career. Staudt's previous best round was a 78 at the Iowa Central Invitational in Ankeny on April 2, 2015.
"Chris was really outstanding over the past couple of days," Frenz said.
Other counting scores for the Trojans were Joe Nordquist (79-80 - 159); Joseph Lensing (83-79 - 162) and Spencer Davidson (88-79 - 167).
"To get my 3-4-5 guys in the 70s is huge," Frenz said. "It's nice early to prove to ourselves that we can put together good back to back rounds and we jumped up a spot from day one, which is really tough to do."
At the 2014 Clarke University Invitational, the NIACC men placed sixth with a 317-320 - 637.
The NIACC men's and women's teams return to action Saturday and Sunday at the Iowa Lakes Invitational at Brooks National Golf Course in Okoboji.
Team standings - St. Ambrose 299-286 - 585; William Penn 304-299 - 603; University of Dubuque 303-310 - 613; NIACC 311-303 - 614; DMACC 314-306 - 320; Waldorf 302-319 - 621; SW Tech 322-312 - 634; University of Dubuque JV 324-323 - 647; Augustana 334-323 - 657; Clarke University 332-332 664.
NIACC'S FALL SEASON AVERAGES
Sam Steinwand (3 rounds) 73.3
Chris Staudt (3 rounds) 75
Joseph Lensing (3 rounds) 79
Joe Nordquist (3 rounds) 79
Zach Nicholson (1 round) 81
Spencer Davidson (3 rounds) 82.7
Brandon Hebel (1 round) 84
Kenton Waters (1 round) 84
Brandon Nordman (1 round) 88
