T-Bird (M-Golf) Wins Colin Montgomerie Invitational for 2nd Straight Season, Pettersson Wins Individually

The NMJC men's golf team (+14) won the Colin Montgomerie Invitational in back-to-back years on Tuesday, March 4. 

Elias Pettersson won individually at the par-71 Sweetwater CC to earn his third victory of his career. Pettersson shot 71-68-71 to claim the individual crown at 3-under. The Swede walked up to 18 needing a birdie to win and subsequently chipped in to win the tournament outright.

Pettersson birdied 15-of-54 holes, and the finish is the sophomore's fourth top 10 of the season.

The T-Birds earned a two-stroke victory over Abilene Christian and seven-stroke win over Incarnate Word. NMJC shot a 54-hole total of 866 (+14) to win in Sugar Land, Texas.

NMJC picked up their first team win of the 2024-25 season and were one of two junior college programs (Blinn) in the 14-team field.

PJ Herron was inserted into the lineup this week and was the top T-Bird finisher behind Pettersson coming in T-5. Herron shot 72-70-73 to finish at 2-over par for the tournament.

Henry Drake shot 73-76 in his first two rounds this week to sit at 7-over par for the first 36 holes. The Englishman turned in a 1-under 70 in the final round to shoot 6-over in Sugar Land and finish T-13.

Freshman Oliver Ruutu shot 76-73-74 at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational to finish T-26 at 10-over par. Jake Yrene was the last member of the T-Bird lineup. The freshman shot 21-over after posting rounds of 75-79-80 to place T-59.

The win at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational is the first victory under NMJC's first-year head coach Gil Williams.

The Thunderbirds next tournament is March 17-18 at the Tanklogix Collegiate in San Angelo, Texas at Quicksand GC.