'Lil Bit Short'

Monday morning at the Rockwind Community Links hosted the final round of the Thunderbird Invitational. The New Mexico Junior College golf team came into the third round in second place and on the heel of leaders Midland College.

With 18 holes left to play in the two-day event, the Thunderbirds were looking to cap off two strong rounds and snatch the lead away from the Chaparrals.

After the final 18 holes, the Thunderbirds watched Midland win the tournament and McLennan Community College come in second.

"We finished third," NMJC head coach James Berry said on his team's expectation. "Certainly not the outcome we were looking for. We had a good chance to win this year but if you don't play at your best we have some of the top teams in the nation here. We came up a little bit short."

Berry pointed at his team falling only a shot behind second place McLennan and 10 shots behind first place Midland. He saw that it was a very tight game but it was still not the result the team wanted.

"We had two guys in the top five," Berry said on his team's overall performance. "I'm really happy about that. We as a group for the most part performed pretty well. You have to be great to beat these teams coming in here, you have to play great. We played good, not great, so third place. Not bad, not exactly what we wanted but not bad."

Sophomores Julius Kreutzer and Andrew Ni led the Thunderbirds with top five individual performances in the final round of the two-day event. Kreutzer scored 207, placing him in a tie with Midland's Callum Bruce. Ni finished in fourth with a 208 score.

"Home tournaments are really cool," Kreutzer said. "We enjoy playing in our home course where we practice on everyday. We started really good yesterday we had a great day, but we just couldn't finish it today."

"Everybody thinks home advantage is huge thing," Ni added. "But around here it's a tough golf course no matter how many times you play it. Especially with the pin position placed today. We have seen them here quite a few times, but it's hardly an advantage."

The NMJC golf team will begin to prepare for the NJCAA Southwest Regional Championship at Pottsboro, Texas, on April 15-16.

"We play those teams very often," Kreutzer said on facing the same teams to reach nationals. "If you look at a lot of the individuals in the top 20 that we face at every tournament, it gives us good confidence to finish third and then to get a prize individually, and to look forward to national cause it's kind of the same teams that we face."

"Our overall goal is to win nationals," Ni said. "And playing against these teams every single tournament makes our game so much stronger and so much better. So we know what we are up against when we make it. All these tournaments are a stepping stone to making nationals."

"We know that everything we do on a day-to-day bases matters," Berry said on his team being ready to challenge for Nationals. "Whether it's a workout, practice, or playing all that stuff matters. We will be focused going forward. They understand what it will take to get there. These guys are motivated."

EDUARDO MIRANDA/NEWS-SUN

USW Graeme Brunet led the Mustangs with 212 at the Thunderbird Invitational in Rockwind Community Links. USW finished in seventh place at the two-day event.