MASON CITY,  Iowa (Sept. 10, 2026) - The Buena Vista men's golf team played its first round of golf this fall by having two teams compete in the NIACC Invite on Thursday at Legacy Golf Course. A total of 19 teams competed, and both teams for BVU finished inside the top-10.

The Buena Vista (B) team placed fifth overall with a stellar round of 301 while the Buena Vista (A) team came in tied for eighth after posting a 306. Of the 10 total golfers that competed on the day, seven of them fired rounds under  80.

Freshman Brady Nichols got his collegiate career off to a memorable start by carding an even-round 71 and placed fourth overall. His round included four birdies overall with three of those coming on holes No. 1, No. 4, No. 6. Fellow freshman Hunter Heckley was close behind with a strong 75 and a tie for 23rd. He came out with five straight pars to begin his round before a rough stretch to close out his first nine holes. He was able to bounce back from that starting on hole No. 1 with a birdie on the par-5 and later added a second birdie on hole No. 5

Senior Nathaniel Hillman carded one of the lowest rounds of his career with a 77 with fellow senior Justin Hanks posting a 78. Freshman Christian Vander Broeck rounded out the line-up with an 82 to cap his college debut.

The top finisher in the other Beaver group was freshman Chase Belka with a two-over 73 and a tie for 11th overall. He led all players for the Beavers on the day with six birdies but was slightly hindered by double-bogeys down the stretch on holes No. 5 and No. 10. The first of those was sandwiched between a pair of birdies. Senior Gabe Kramer was one shot back after his 74. he began on hole  No. 17 and was sitting  at 3-under thru his first eight holes of play.  He carded back-to-back birdies on holes No. 1 and  No.2  and again on holes  No. 5 and No. 6.

Junior Reid Haney (79), freshman Jeremy Maassen (80) and freshman Tommy Dredla (80) rounded out the line-up.

Both teams dominated the par-5's with each one ranking in the top-five of the entire field at a combined 5-under par for the day. The 15 combined birdies only trailed Iowa Central's 16.

Iowa Central CC carded a team score of 286 and landed the overall medalist with a pair of golfers at 2-under 69. The Tritons  won the Invite by seven strokes over Southwestern CC.

The Beavers will continue their fall schedule on Monday, Sept. 14 and Tuesday, Sept. 15 when they compete in the annual Siouxland Invite. Monday's round takes place at the Ridge in Sioux Center, Iowa, while Tuesday's final round is played at Landsmeer in Orange City, Iowa.