NIACC golfer Fink aiming for Iowa State

Even though he's just the sixth golfer from the state of Iowa win a junior college national title in golf, Levi Fink's head coach at North Iowa Area Community College knew he could have had something special before he arrived on campus.

'His sister was a player here a few years ago, she turned me onto him then,” NIACC head golf coach Chris Frenz said. 'She said, ‘you might want to keep an eye on my brother.' We hit it off together, I knew he was very, very good, but the amount of work he put in here propelled him to a higher level than when he started.”

Fink posted a 1-under-par 287 in the four-day NJCAA Division II tournament at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Ind. last month, giving him a two-shot win over Charlie Cameron of Tyler (Texas).

Despite having less opportunities to practice due to the harsh Iowa spring, the NIACC sophomore from Wadena lowered his average from last season by just over a stroke and possibly earned a spot on the Iowa State golf team roster.

'I emailed (Iowa State head golf coach Andrew Tank) what it would take to make the team as a walk-on,” said Fink, a graduate of Valley Community High School. 'I knew if I could drop my stroke average I would have a chance. Then I won nationals and it catapulted everything.”

Going into the season, Fink said he set mini-goals for himself. Reach those, and he might have a chance at Iowa State, he figured.

'Starting (freshman year) I wasn't playing that well,” he said. 'It made me realize the difference between high school and college. At NIACC, transferring to ISU was one of my goals. During freshman year I saw some improvement, then my sophomore year I took the No. 1 spot on the team.

'I wanted to have the lowest score on the team for every tournament, which I did all but one tournament.”

Tank has watched Fink golf a little to get a feel for his potential walk-on, but Frenz thinks his national champion has a good chance of being a Cyclone come fall.

'This is going to give him so much confidence,” Frenz said. 'I know he was saying there were some opportunities. Now when you put national champion on your resume, that means he's got to carry little weight.”

Fink said he had a chance to play golf at another school, but it didn't offer the architecture major he wants to pursue. Iowa State does, and that makes the decision to enroll in the fall easy.

'I have been an Iowa State fan all my life,” Fink said. 'I really want to go to school there. It would be the best of both worlds if I could get my schooling and be able to golf there.”

l Comments: ben.ross@thegazettecompany.com