GOLF: Chaps in fourth after tough, windy day
Just having an OK round of golf may not be good enough with the way Hutchinson Community College is playing in the NJCAA National Tournament at Odessa Country Club Links Course.
By Oscar LeRoy
Midland Reporter-Telegram
ODESSA, TEXAS - Just having an OK round of golf may not be good enough with the way Hutchinson Community College is playing in the NJCAA National Tournament at Odessa Country Club Links Course.
The No. 1-ranked Midland College men's golf team moved up a spot in the standings but trail defending national champion Hutchinson by 22 shots after the second round of play on a windy Wednesday afternoon.
The Chaparrals shot a 297 on Wednesday for a total of 588. Hutchinson did even better than the first day as it shot 6-under 282 on Wednesday for a 566. New Mexico Junior College and Eastern Florida State are tied for second at 585. Host Odessa College is sixth with a 590 total.
Individually, MC sophomore JT Pittman is tied for fourth place with a 68-74—142. The top three places belong to Hutchinson with Ben Partridge (138) leading the way, followed by Blake Saffel (139) and Dominic Clemons (141).
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| Angel Guerra |
The low round of the day for the Chaps came from sophomore Angel Guerra, who improved five shots from Tuesday to shoot even par in the second round.
MC coach Walt Williams said his team started the day poorly but was able to recover some on the back nine.
Williams said No. 5 player Bladen Samaniego hurt his back on the first hole but was able to battle back and was able to shoot a 4-over. Williams said No. 3 Adam Coull was playing well but then had a disastrous hole on No. 10 and ended up shooting 9-over.
"Angel played really well all day in some really difficult conditions," Williams said. "JT didn't play great on the front, but played really well on the back. Sam (McKenzie) didn't play great on the front but played pretty well on the back and then had an unfortunate bogey on the last hole. But he was able to battle back and kept us in there.
"Hutchinson is playing spectacular golf, as good as I've ever seen in these kind of conditions. It's gusting 30 miles an hour and they shooting under par. They're making putts and hitting great shots. Some days, that's the way golf is. Sometimes guys are striking it and you're fighting, battling, battling and clawing for all your worth and just not as good as them in the field."
Guerra said the wind certainly did not make it easy.
"It was playing really tough and it was blowing really hard," he said. "I was angry a little bit. I missed a lot of putts that should have been in."
The Chaps hope to have a better third round on Thursday afternoon. With several teams fighting for the top three spots, they believe that anything can happen.
"We've got two more rounds, who knows?" Williams said. "If we play really well, we can get back in it before the final round. But if Hutchinson continues to play like the way they've been playing, then it will be really difficult to catch them."
Added Guerra: "There's still a lot of golf left to play. JT played really well (on Monday). Today, we played so-so. Hutchinson played really well. I don't think we did bad, but it was just a hard day to play."
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NJCAA Division I Men's National Golf Championship
At Odessa Country Club Links Course
Par: 72; Yards: 7,260
Wednesday's Second Round Results
Team standings – 1. Hutchinson CC 284-282--566; T-2. New Mexico JC 288-297--585; Eastern Florida State 288-297--585; 4. Midland College 291-297--588; 5. Ranger College 298-291—589; 6. Odessa College 287-303--590; T-7. Dodge City CC 292-299--591; Indian Hills CC 294-297--591; 9. Western Texas College 303-291--594; T-10. Eastern Wyoming CC 295-303--598; Calhoun CC 298-300--598; 12. Garden City 298-301--599; 13. McLennan CC 295-306—601; 14. Iowa Western CC 298-308—606; 15. Central Alabama CC 292-315—607; 16. Pima CC 308-300--608; T-17. Coastal Alabama CC 308-303--611; Weatherford College 308-303—611; 19. Wallace State CC 302-313--615; 20. Jefferson State CC 304-314—618; 21. Northeastern JC 314-314--628; 22. Estrella Mountain 315-314--629; T-23. Spartanburg Methodist 319-313--632; McCook CC 322-310--632
Medalist standings – T-1. Ben Partridge, Hutchinson, 68-70--138; 2. Blake Saffel, Hutchinson, 72-67—139; 3. Dominic Clemons, Hutchinson, 72-69—141; T-4. Matthis Lefevre, New Mexico JC, 69-73—142; JT Pittman, Midland College, 68-74—142; 6. Supakit Seelanagae, Dodge City, 72-71—143; T-7. Hunter Franks, Calhoun, 74-70—144; Drew Lanier, Eastern Florida State, 73-71—144; Frank Vucic, Indian Hills, 69-75—144; T-10. Brendan Thomas, Eastern Wyoming, 73-72—145; Marcelo Garza, Odessa College, 69-76—145
Midland College – (291-297--588) – JT Pittman 68-74--142, Samual McKenzie 74-75--149, Angel 77-72—149, Bladen Samaniego 76-76--152, Adam Coull 73-81--154
Odessa College – (287-303--590) – Marcelo Garza 69-76--145, Laurenz Kubin 71-80--151, Sangha Park 73-74--147, Max Cooper 74-73--147, Cameron Lopez 76-84--160