The Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) men's golf team will begin the fall season with participation in the NIACC Invitational September 10 at Mason City.
Head coach Chris Seaboch returns seven sophomores from the 2017-18 team that finished 11th in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Championship.
Heading the list of returnees is Kolby Chup from Des Moines, who finished 47th in the national tournament. Other returning sophomores include Drew Fielder of Webster City, Louis Psihoyos of Dubuque, Dylan Scheffler of Sac City, Connor Shannon of Webster City, Tyler Wierson of Ames and Noah Wilkening of Perry.
"We lost four guys last year that had been to two national tournaments in two years and that's a big piece to fill," said Seaboch. "But guys like Wierson and Psihoyos, they were right on those other guys' tails just itching for opportunities and just came up a little short. They're ready to step up and we've got some pretty good freshmen coming in that had some good success in high school. Hopefully we can build on that as well.
"The guys who are in the top spots when (the national tournament) come around will have earned those spots because we've got the ninth, tenth or 11th guy who are shooting numbers that a right in there. I feel like we've got nine or ten guys that we're going to have to whittle down to five somehow. Luckily we have a year and a lot of tournaments to do that."
Although the national tournament won't be contested until May of 2019 and tournament placings count for more in the spring season than in the fall season, Seaboch wants his team to hit the ground running.
"When we show up for these tournaments, we may show up with a couple of new faces, but these kids have accomplished great things in high school. We expect them to come in and compete."
Incoming freshmen are Ryan Cole of Ames, Dylan Ellis of Aplington, Keegan Hansen of Marshalltown, Noah Hartman of Slater and Jacob Hesner of Winthrop. Hesner won the Class 1A state championship last spring, Ellis tied for ninth in the Class 2A state tournament and Hartman tied for third in the Class 3A state tournament.
"I expect us to be competitive as a team," Seaboch said. "If we can compete well, that should help build our confidence this fall and carry over to the spring."