T-Birds win own golf tounament
Article Written by: Jason Farmer NEWS-SUN
Photo Taken by: Tony Baker NMTXsports.com
The New Mexico Junior Colege golf team hosted the NMJC thunderbird Classic and finished first. The thunderbirds opened the tournament with 36 holes on Sunday and took a four-stroke lead over the competition. Monday, the T-Birds played the final 18 holes and closed out the win with a team score of 867.
As for the other teams participating, Odess finished second, seven strokes behind NMJC with an 874 while Midland was third (875). McLenan (900) was fourth and University of the Southwest (908) was fifth. New Mexico Military Institue brought up the rear with a team score of 932.
The Thunderbirds also had the lowest individual score of the tournament, Ryan Cox's 211. Cox was also the only golfer in the tournament to finish under par in every round. Odessa had the second and third place finishers. Van Thomas carded a 214 for the Wranglers while his teammate, Augustin Hole, shot a 216.
Thomas also carded the lowest hole of the tournament, shooting a four-under par 68 on Monday. Joining Hole in a three-way tie for third was Midland's Stefan Cronje and Michael Salazar.
New Mexico Junior College's Peter Johns matched Salazar and Hudson Ross, both of Midland, for the single lowest round, carding a 69, three strokes under par (72), during the first day of the tournament. The only difference between the three golfers was that Johns shot 69 during the second round while Salazar and Ross carded theirs during the first round.
Johns wasn't the only T-Bird to have a great Sunday though. Cox was two under par with a pair os 70s. Michael Garcia finished one under with a 71 and Ben Tucker shot an even par 72.
At the end of the first 36 holes, NMJC had a team score of 283, good for five strokes under par.
On Monday, Cox carded a one-under par 71 while his teammate Fraser Hughes tuned in an even par 72. As for the rest of the T-Bird golfers, Tucker finished one-over par with a 73 while Garcia shot a 78. Johns; final round score was an 81.
With two 70s and 71, Cox finished the tournament with a 54-hole score of 211. His teammate, Hughes, was sixth with a core of 218. Tucker finished with a 220 and Garcia carded a 224. Johns finished with a 231 and had his score dropped.
Playing as individuals for the T-Birds were Julian Bartucca and Preston Ewing. Bartucca finished with a 54-hole total of 225 while Ewing carded a 241 for the tournament.
University of the Southwest's top golfer was Wyatt Beard with a score of 223. Beard shot an even par and a one-over par (73) on Sunday. Monday, he carded a78. Luke Wimmer shot a 230, finishing with scores of 81 to finish with a 231 while Graeme Brunet carded a 232 (79,74,79).
Playing as individuals for USW were Robert Gallegos, Riley Castleman, and Brandon Moore. Gallegos finished with a 238 (79,84,and 75) while Casleman and Moore tied with a 246. Castleman had scores of 86, 82, and 78 while Moore shot and 86, 81, and a 79.
Next up for the T-Birds is the NJCAA Southwest Regional Championship on Monday, April 10. It will be played at the Tanglewood Resort Golf Course in Pottsboro, Texas. The Mustangs will now head Hutchison, Kansas for the Midwest Spring Fling on April 3 and 4.