Kirchner qualifies for Nationals, Trailblazers place sixth at Region 24 Championships

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Vincennes University sophomore Bryce Kirchner (North Vernon, Ind.) qualified for the NJCAA Division II National Championships for the second year in a row after his performance at the Region 24 Championships at Dalhousie Golf Course Monday and Tuesday.

The Trailblazers as a team continued to improve as the 54-hole tournament continued, with the team taking 10 shots off their score in the three round tournament.

Vincennes struggled out of the gate in the first round Monday with Kirchner setting the pace with an opening round 81.

Freshman Sam Stewart (Floyds Knob, Ind.) started his tournament with an 83 and freshman Luke VanDeventer (Columbus, Ind.) was one shot behind with an 84.

Freshman Paxton Schwomeyer (Oakland City, Ind.) finished the first round of the day with an 87 and freshman Caleb Maris (Terre Haute, Ind.) rounded out the opening round for VU with a 93.

Vincennes got the opportunity to bounce back immediately as the field played the first 36-holes on Monday.

Paxton Schwomeyer came away with the lowest round of the day for the Blazers, taking 10 shots off his opening round for a second round 77.

Caleb Maris additionally cut 10 shots off his first round score, ending the second round of the day with an 83.

Bryce Kirchner had a very consistent day with a second round 80, with Stewart and VanDeventer rounding out the day with Stewart shooting an 85 and VanDeventer ending with an 86.

VU returned to the course Tuesday morning for the third and final round of the tournament and Kirchner made his climb up the leaderboard with a one-over 73 in the final round to give him a tournament score of 234 and a tie for 10th place.

Schwomeyer and VanDeventer also came in under 80, shooting 79 each with Schwomeyer placing 21st at 243 for the tournament and VanDeventer ending at 27th with 249.

Sam Stewart had a very consistent tournament with his final round coming in at 84, giving him a tournament score of 252 good for 29th place.

Caleb Maris closed out the tournament with a final round 98, and a 37th place finish with a tournament score of 274.

Vincennes as a team took home a sixth-place finish with team scores of 335 in the first round, 325 in the second and 315 in the final round Tuesday, good for 975 on the tournament.

”We didn’t play our best in the 36 holes on the first day of the tournament,” VU Golf Coach Dennis Chattin said. “But we did play well on the second day in the third round.”

“Bryce advancing to the National Championships for the second straight year is a really great accomplishment,” Chattin added. “Dalhousie is a tough golf course and I think Bryce put a little extra pressure on himself because he really wanted to qualify for Nationals again and he didn’t get off to a good start in the first round.”

“But in typical Bryce style, he continued to battle to the end,” Chattin said. “On the front nine of his final round he had lost a ball where all of his group thought they could find it but we had a lot of rain the night before and we think it was just buried, so he had to take a lost ball which cost him two shots.”

“We talked at the turn that he had nothing to lose, so just go for it on the back nine and that’s exactly what he did,” Chattin added. “After the 40 on the front, he shot a three-under par 33 on the back, including an eagle on the par five 18th. Bryce is really deserving of advancing. He is a third-year player who has earned two degrees at VU with a straight ‘A’ average and works really hard at his game.”

Bryce Kirchner rallied back to qualify for the NJCAA Division II National Championships as an individual and will be representing the Trailblazers at Twin Hills Country Club in Joplin, Mo.

The four-day Championship tournament will begin on Tuesday, May 17 and run through Friday, May 20.