The Briar Cliff golf teams competed in the first round of the Northwest Iowa National invite Monday, in Le Mars, Iowa. The Charger men are tied for 10th and the women sit eighth after 36 holes. 
 
Shaunak Rama was the low man for the Chargers carding a 146 (+2) in his two rounds. After a +6 first 18 holes, Rama bounced back posting a -4 round two with six birdies. He is tied for 15th entering the final round.
 
Andrew Arndorfer and Gregorio Fernandez posted matching 150's. Arndorfer improved in round two by four strokes (77, 73) and is tied for 35th. Fernandez shot a 74 in his first round and followed with a 76 in the next round. Arndorfer rolled in seven birdies and Fernandez had four. Mason Collins and Desmond Landin scored identical 152's (74, 78) and are tied for 47th. Landin had four birdies and one eagle, while Collins had eight birdies. Davess Verdugo is golfing individually and is tied for 47th with a score of 152 (75, 77).
 
"Men didn't have the best day overall, but still find themselves in contention," said head coach Ben Irlbeck. "A 68 by Rama in round 2 kept us within reach of the top half. I feel we can make up some ground with a fast start tomorrow. Slow starts today by Rama and Arndorfer put us behind the eight ball early, but the rest of the team kept us close with solid performances from Collins, Landin, and Fernández. Someone will have to go deep tomorrow for us to move into the top 5 - which is very possible with the confidence we currently possess."
 
On the women's side, Frankie Valencia leads the Blue and Gold with her 36-hole score of 156 and is tied for 20th. Valencia turned in a 79 in round one and improved by two strokes in her second 18 holes. She tallied seven birdies on the day. Molly Diekmann also improved her score in the second round and posted a two-round score of 161 (82, 79). 
 
Helene Getz Bergmo finished the day with a score of 170 (81, 89) and is in 33rd. Emily Harste rounds out the scoring for the Chargers and is 34th with her score of 172 (89, 83) Abbigale Miller was the fifth member of the BC squad and turned in a 180 (90, 90).
 
"On the lady's side, we really finished well. The competition is steep - we really needed to capitalize on the downwind holes which we unfortunately fell short on," said Irlbeck. "Course set up is great! If we can adjust quickly to the cooler weather that we will see tomorrow, I foresee us continuing to drop that overall team score into the 320s or below."
 
The Chargers return to Willow Creek Golf Club Tuesday for the final round of the Northwest Iowa National Invite.