The NCMC men's and women's golfers traveled to Kansas City, MO Wednesday for the 1st round of the Rockhurst Fall Invitational at Swope Memorial Golf Course. The Pirate men shot a team score of 318, sitting in 4th place after round one. The women are also sitting in 4th place as a team with a score of 398.
"Overall I was pleased with how both squads played throughout the day. The competition level is about as good as it gets this early in the year with Rockhurst, Kansas City Kansas CC and William Jewell in the field," commented first year head coach Nate Swann.
Austin Lasher led the men's squad with a 77. "Austin put together a real solid round today. He showed some maturity and hit some great shots on a golf course that he has never been on before. If he can keep swinging the driver well and find some consistency around the greens, he will find success like that every time out. I'm very happy with where his game is at this early in the fall."
Kyle Steel and Cam Bates shot 79 respectively for NCMC. "Kyle and Cam also played some good golf outside of a few wayward shots and some sloppy mistakes. They will tidy up a few things tomorrow and I'm expecting some improvement in course knowledge from them in Round 2."
Brayden Schweizer shot 83 and Mason Moncrief shot 97 to round out the Pirates scoring. "Brayden hit some terrific shots today but simply had a couple bad holes to prevent his score from also being in the 70's. Mason injured his wrist mid round and just wasn't able to swing 100% on the back nine. I'm hoping he heals up and is ready to go for tomorrow."
On the women's side, Emily Long shot an 88 and sits in a tie for 8th place after Day 1. "Emily hit the ball pretty well all day but she will tell you it was a grind. Putting became an issue on the back half of the round and she couldn't quite get the line and speed down on the greens. She will look to bounce back and make a move in the right direction on the leaderboard tomorrow."
Lexi Hutton shot 96 and Taylor Hileman shot 105 for the Lady Pirates. "I'm very happy with how Lexi kept the ball in the fairway today off the tee. There were some nerves that set in early in the round but she was able to get past it and play with some confidence. Taylor, Laynie, and Alison all struggled to get going today but I saw glimpses from them throughout the round. They fell behind on the leaderboard early with some nerves which led to some miscues on the front nine. They can now come into tomorrow fresh and focused to improve in all areas."
Tee times for the NCMC women on Thursday will begin at 9:20am off hole #10 and the men will start off hole #1 at 9:50am.
Men's Leaderboard: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=23250
Women's Leaderboard:
http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=23266