Broncbusters tied for 18th after first round of NJCAA Championships
Newton, KS-The Broncbuster men's golf team is tied for 18th, and Joshua Balson-Scales is in 33rd place after day one of the 2023 NJCAA Men's Golf National Championships at Sand Creek Station.
Balson-Scales who shot 1-over on the front, dropped in a pair of birdies on the back nine, including one on the par-5 16th, which covered 525 yards. He shot 1-under on the backside and finished at even par for the day.
"It was an uneven round for sure," Head Coach, Phil Terpstra said afterwards. "Most of our guys struggled on the back nine."
Jackson Koksal had arguably one of his best rounds of the season. He's currently tied for 60th after shooting 2-over, but he was a birdie machine to the start the day, dropping in three of them over the first nine holes. But four bogeys to end the afternoon kept him from a possible top-20 finish.
"I told Jackson that was probably his best round of golf this season," Terpstra said. "I know he (Koksal) was disappointed, but you have to put things into perspective."
Anthony DeSchutter and Tiaan Diedericks tied for 71st at 3-over. DeSchutter was fantastic through the first half of the day, tapping in birdies on No. 4 and No. 5. He then parred the next four holes and was 1-under through nine. But a bogey on 11, a double on 12, and a pair of missed putts on 14 and 16 cost the sophomore dearly as he shot plus-4 on the back.
Meantime Diedericks was up and down for most of the afternoon. After bogeying two out of the first three holes, he birdied No. 6 but followed that up with a double on seven. He added one more birdie on 15.
"We are not that far out of it that we can't get back into it on Wednesday," Terpstra said.
Akarachai Sakunlee finished the first round at 5-over par.
Wallace State's Keith Hunter is the opening-round leader, and Indian Hills is in first after shooting 10-under collectively.
Garden City tees off at 10:50 a.m. on Wednesday.