Competing for the first time this fall, the Iowa Central golf team shined bright here Monday at the Fort Dodge Country Club.
Michel Van Zijl and Austin Erickson shot a combined 7-under as the Tritons posted a 2-under team score to finish nine strokes ahead of Barton County at the Iowa Central Fall Kickoff.
Des Moines Area was a distant third at 17-over followed by Iowa Lakes, Iowa Central B and Iowa Lakes B. The Bears and Lakers finished tied atop the women's team leaderboard.
Van Zijl, a freshman from Holland, had a 67 in his first round with the Tritons. That left him tied with Peeranat Suporn from Barton County.
It was a bogey-free round for Van Zijl, as he fired three birdies on the back and one more on the front to go with 14 pars.
Erickson, a returning sophomore off Iowa Central's fourth place team at nationals in the spring, was at 3-under to tie for third. He carded four birdies on the front and two more on the back.
Justin Schipper, another of the players back along with Liam Ross, shot an even-par round to place fifth. He had three birdies, including two on the front. Ross carded a 76 with a birdie for 14th while Sam Evenson also shot a 76 with a birdie.
"Great first round of the year," said Iowa Central head coach Kris Graewin. "Super proud and happy for Michel's first collegiate round and him playing as well as he did. Austin was able to pick up where he left off in the spring. The biggest thing for us is to get a little more consistency out of the middle of our lineup. We've got a lot of great players this year and now it's just about getting our best five out there for each tournament."
Simon Mitchell led the Iowa Central B team with a 74, tying for seventh overall. Matthew Kruger was 14th with Ross and Evenson, Manning Lane and Tomas Ribeiro each shot 80s for 23rd, with Jordan England firing an 83.
Mitchell had three birdies, Ribeiro had one. Both England and Kruger each had two.
For the Iowa Central women, Ella Dinsdale shot a 108 and Korie Norris a 110.
"It was great to get Ella and Korie some collegiate golfing experience," Graewin said. "For their first time playing in a collegiate event, I thought they did a nice job of controlling their nerves and bouncing back after some rough holes. They know now what it's like to play at this level and what they need to do to improve on where they struggled.
"We'll have a good week of practice this week and then we'll get ready for everyone to travel again to NIACC's event on September 7."
That event will take place at the Mason City Country Club beginning at 10:30 a.m.
-By Dana Becker