WATERLOO, Iowa -- The ICCAC's Division II Men's teams will head to Waterloo, Iowa for the North Central District Championships to play for a spot in the 2024 NJCAA Division II Golf National Championships in Joplin, Mo.
The North Central District Championships begin on Monday May 6 with 36 holes, followed by 18 final holes on Tuesday, May 7. Teams will play a practice round preceding the tournament on Sunday.
Three teams from Region 9 will be joining the ICCAC's nine teams to play in the North Central District Championships. Central (Neb.), North Platte (Neb.), and Southeast (Neb.). In addition to North Platte, the other new addition comes from Region 13 in Alexandria Technical and Community College (Minn.),
In the field, the team everyone is chasing down are the Kirkwood Eagles. The Eagles have won eight-straight NJCAA qualifiers and are the defending NJCAA Champions. Coming off their first NJCAA title, Kirkwood heads into the tournament ranked #3 in the NJCAA Division II standings. Grant Greazel is the highest ranked Eagle as well as the highest ranked player in the field ranked #7 in the nation and the highest ranked golfer in the field. The Eagles will look for some help from Nathan Offerman who's ranked #15 in the national rankings. Kirkwood also is returning a Top-10 finisher at last year's NJCAA Championships Nathan Bratanata who tied for seventh for the Eagles at nationals last year.
Another team to look out for is DMACC who's ranked #6 in the country. The Bears are looking to take down Kirkwood after losing by just four team strokes last year. Drew Teeter is ranked #10 in the national rankings and holds a 73.5 scoring average on the season. DMACC placed eighth last year in the NJCAA Championships and are looking to move up the rankings this year. Spencer Clatt is one of the players on last year's team that played in the National Championships and took 30th. Also, Kaleb Allen is the #34th ranked golfer in the NJCAA and has one win and four top three finishes in 12 starts this season.
Some more players to look at going into the North Central District Preview are Iowa Central's Nico Booyens who's ranked #21 and Colby Ramsdale who's ranked #29 both hold 18-hole averages under 76.5. The Tritons are the only other team in the top 10 in the rankings at No. 9 -- third-highest among all teams in the field.
Tim Castle from NIACC is right behind Booyens in the rankings at #22, Castle holds a 75.9 average in the 16 rounds played this season.. Kaeden Anderson of Hawkeye has 10 top three finishes and four wins this season and is slotted in at #30 in the national rankings, Anderson holds 74.3 scoring average and looks to shake up the top-five.
From outside the Region --- Southeast is the highest ranked contender at #11 in the country. They are led by Luke Strako (#20) and Thomas Gatlin (#27).
Golfers will play a total of 54 holes with 36 on Day 1, and 18 on Day 2. Shotgun tee times begin for everyone at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning. Tee times will follow on Day 2 at 10:00 a.m. starting with the highest scoring teams working their way to the leaders.
The top three teams and next three individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the NJCAA Championships.
Team Rankings:
3. Kirkwood
6. DMACC
9. Iowa Central
11. Southeast Neb.
16. Alexandria Tech
17. Hawkeye
25. Northeast Neb.
35. Southwestern
36. Iowa Lakes
38. NIACC
46. North Platte
49. Southeastern IA
55. Central Neb.
Top 20 Individuals:
7. Grant Greazel, Kirkwood
10. Drew Teeter, DMACC
15. Nathan Offerman, Kirkwood
20. Luke Strako, Southeast Neb.
21. Nico Booyens, Iowa Central
22. Tim Castle, NIACC
27. Thomas Gatlin, Southeast Neb.
29. Kaeden Anderson, Hawkeye
30. Colby Ramsdale, Iowa Central
31. Leo Burger, Kirkwood
32. Nathan Bratanata, Kirkwood
34. Kaleb Allen, DMACC
35. Quinn Tinkler, Kirkwood
41. Hank Sogge, Alexandria Tech
45. Spencer Clatt, DMACC
49. Gannon Hall, Kirkwood
56. Gannon Walsh, Alexandria Tech
68. Frank Haege, Kirkwood
74. Janlo Zaayman
*All rankings and stat information from Clippd.com
820 E Donald St.
Live Stats will be available on GolfStat
NJCAA Individual Rankings (Clippd)
Past Team Champions (Last 5):
2023 - Kirkwood
2022 - Kirkwood
2021 - Kirkwood
2020 - COVID-19
2019 - Kirkwood
Past Champions
Past Individual Champions (Last 5):
2023 - Santiago Valdez, Northeast
2022 - Ty Heimes, Northeast
2021 - James Morgan - Kirkwood
2020 - COVID-19
2019 - James Morgan - Kirkwood