Iowa men’s golf had three players in the top 25 after the first round of play in the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational hosted by Ball State at the Delaware Country Club in Muncie, Ind., on Monday.

Freshmen Landon Kowalski, Voramate Aussarassakorn, and Nate Yankovich put up solid rounds despite winds and debris that caused the start of the tournament to be delayed more than two hours.

“There was some wind that left a lot of leaves on the green and the rest of the course that they had to clean up,” assistant coach Dan Holterhaus said. “But our guys did a nice job adjusting. We did a pretty good job mentally preparing.”

Yankovich sits in a tie for seventh place after shooting a 1-over 71. He is only 4 strokes behind tournament leader Nick Huggins of Northern Illinois. Holterhaus said he was impressed with Yankovich’s performance in his first round of Division-I play.

“Nate had a good game plan coming in,” he said. “He had a good practice round and executed well when play started.”

Kowalski didn’t finish the first round far behind his teammate. The Buffalo Grove, Ill., native shot a 3 over and is tied for 14th place.

Aussarassakorn shot a identical 38s on the front and back nine to finish the day at 6 over. The Thailand-born golfer was in 25th place when the second round started.

“Voramate shot a solid round,” Holterhaus said. “He struggled a little bit with the putter but still had a good round overall.”

The golfers got in 14 holes of the second round before nightfall, but stroke totals and standings won’t be updated until completion of the second and third rounds today.

“I’d like to see our guys continue to be patient,” Holterhaus said. “If we take it one shot at a time and focus only on what we can control, we’ll have a good finish to the tournament.”

— by Tommy Reinking