THE FRONT ROW with Jason Elliott May. 11, 2013

Consistency will be the key for the North Idaho College men's and women's golf teams as they compete against the best junior college teams in the national at next week's NJCAA tournaments.

The NIC men will compete starting Tuesday at The Rawls Golf Course in Lubbock, Texas, while the women will travel to the Longbow Golf Club starting Monday in Mesa, Ariz.

NIC WILL will send Austin Westphal, Spencer Skipper from Lake City High, Taylor Reed, Dylan Morrison and Calvin Baty to the men's tournament, which runs through Friday.

"We've done a good job of being consistent," NIC golf coach Derrick Thompson said. "But we've lacked that one guy to step up and play better than average."

NIC won a tournament at NAIA Montana State-Billings and finished second at the Concordia tournament in Portland.

To finish in the top five at nationals, Thompson said it will take a better than normal round each day.

"We need one guy to step up," Thompson said. "It doesn't have to be just one guy, but it can be any of them on any given day. That's what it will take."

NIC enters the tournament ranked 17th in the nation and finished 16th last year - the highest finish in program history - with a score of 1,252. Westphal, Skipper, Reed and Morrison return from that squad. Reed, who also qualified for the U.S. Amateur last year, has signed with Division I Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La., Westphal with Division II Montana State-Billings and Morrison with the University of Charleston (W.V), also a Division II school.

"I think those guys coming back will be a great advantage," Thompson said. "This program has been so new, I don't think we've had four sophomores coming back. Each one has been getting better all year and we've finally got a class that has all played at the national level. The experience they've gained over the last two years here has been great."

Baty is the lone freshman for NIC at nationals.

"Calvin has shot a lot of good rounds this year," Thompson said. "We're going to bring him along and show him what it takes and hopefully the moment doesn't get too big."

Indian Hills Community College the men's national title with a team score of 1,185 last year.

FOR THE women's team, sophomores Arlee Coleman, Hannah Keogh and former Coeur d'Alene High player Chelsea Porter will be joined by freshmen Jennie Willams and Timberlake High product Madi Hauck at the women's tournament.

"It's kind of the same thing as the men's team," Thompson said. "We've got three sophomores that have played at the national tournament. Arlee has finished in the top 15 in all the tournaments we've played in. Chelsea has been playing well. Hopefully that will be a huge plus for us."

NIC, which finished 12th last year in Daytona Beach with a 1,566. Redlands Communty College won the tournament with a 1,176.

It is the first time since NIC started its women's program in 2006 that the tournament has been held outside of Daytona Beach. The women's best finish at nationals was 11th in 2011.

"It's awesome for us," Thompson said. "That course in Florida was no fun for us, so hopefully having it in Arizona will be a little better. We can take a non-stop flight, so hopefully we'll be able to overcome the travel. Those teams from the east will have to deal with it. I think it's going to be a huge plus for us."

"Everyone is really excited to get going," Thompson said. "It's a really, really fun event and it feels as important as it is. When you get there, it's like a PGA tournament event. When you show up, the driving range is full and there's coaching working with players and tee times all day. It's a lot of fun. You get back to the hotel and everyone is on their phones seeing how the tournament is going. It's a fun trip for the kids to get absorbed into the event. Most trips, we drive six hours, play, then drive six hours home. We'll get to travel, get settled and be able to play a few practice rounds. It's a fun trip and everyone is excited and working hard this week to get going."

You can follow each of the tournaments by going to www.golfstatresults.com.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].