T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - BCLUW freshman Zaden Eggers attempts a putt on the 10th green at Ames Golf & Country Club during Monday’s opening round of Class 1A state golf. Eggers shot an 83 and is just four strokes back of the cutoff for all-state honors.

AMES — BCLUW’s Zaden Eggers didn’t find himself in trouble for very long on Monday morning.

That’s what got the Comet freshman in range for a shot at earning a top-7 medal after the first round of a two-day tournament at the Class 1A boys state golf meet at Ames Golf & Country Club.

Eggers went to the clubhouse with a 12-over-par 83, currently in a tie for 17th place out of 69 golfers today. He’s only four strokes back of the top-7 cutoff, and nine off the leader, Dawson Barthole of LeMars Gehlen.

“He’s not just here for the experience,” BCLUW boys golf head coach Heath Rhinehart said. “Even though he’s young, he wants to do well.”

Rhinehart said Eggers often found himself with one bad shot out on the course, but his short game pulled it all together time and time again.

“He putted really well,” Rhinehart said. “He couldn’t get comfortable. Usually one shot per hole that was causing an issue, but with it being only one shot, his short game helped him recover that way.”

Starting on the back nine, he was 5-over after nine with two birdies, three bogeys and a couple double bogeys on Nos. 14 and 16.

Eggers had a string of bigger numbers on the front nine to go to 12-over for the round but finished strong with three-consecutive pars.

“We’re just trying to stay mentally positive out there,” Rhinehart said. “You’re going to have a bad shot here or there, just have to stay in the moment and realize you’re good enough to get yourself out of it.”

Finding the fairways was crucial to success for any golfer on the 1A course today.

“The rough was rough today,” Rhinehart added. “It’s tough to keep focused when you chunk one out of the rough and not be the shot you wanted. Just had to stay positive and get it into a spot and do something with it.”

Eggers tees off from No. 10 at 10:10 a.m. on Tuesday.