Ruutu Wins 2nd Consecutive Thunderbird Invite

The Thunderbirds finished runner-up at the Thunderbird Invite on Tuesday, March 31. 

T-Bird sophomore Oliver Ruutu won the Thunderbird Invite for the second consecutive year shooting 9-under par.

Ruutu shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 in Round 1. The 65 was a career-low, featuring seven birdies for the Turku, Finland native. His second round was under par as well and saw him fire a 2-under 70. Ruutu took his foot off the gas in the final round shooting an even-par 72 to win by one stroke at 9-under.   

Midland College won the 54-hole tournament with a score of 13-under par. The T-Birds were five strokes back of the Chaps shooting 8-under (284-287-285) in Hobbs, NM.  

Alfie Mellor was the No. 2 man for NMJC at Rockwind Community Links. The sophomore opened his first round with a 2-over 74. Round 2 was a six-stroke improvement that saw Mellor fire a 4-under 68. The Albuquerque, NM native shot a 1-under 71 in the final round. Mellor finished in 6th place at 3-under par.

Eino Haaslahti made three birdies and an eagle in his opening round shooting a 1-under 71. Haaslahti struggled in his second round finishing with a 5-over 77. He got back on track in the final round recording a 3-under 69 to finish in 11th place at 1-over.

Freshman Tristan Kolasinski started his first 18 holes with a 2-over 74. Kolasinski fired back-to-back 73s to finish the tournament in a tie for 17th place at 4-over par. 

Riley Apodaca rounded out the team scoring at 13-over. The Deming, NM native shot a 3-over 75 in Round 1. Apodaca followed that up with a 4-over 76 and a 6-over 78 in the next two rounds to finish T-32.  

Severi Varis finished tied for 22nd as an individual with rounds of 71-76-76 to end the tournament at 7-over. Jan Porchet placed T-32 following rounds of 75-74-80 to finish at 13-over. Nick Friedrichsen shot 76-72 through 36 holes but had to withdraw due to an illness. 

The Thunderbirds next event is the Region V Championship in Kingsland, Texas at the Legends GC April 13-14.