Thunderbird (M-Golf) Competes at Nationals in Kansas

The NMJC men's golf team will compete at the 2026 NJCAA DI Men's Golf National Championship in Newton, Kan., at Sand Creek Station Golf Club Tuesday, May 12 at 10:50 a.m. CDT.

The 72-hole tournament hosted by Hutchinson CC takes place May 12-15 and is 18 holes each day. The Thunderbirds finished in fifth place at the 2025 NJCAA DI Men's Golf National Championship in Newton Kan.  

Gil Williams is in his second year with NMJC as the head men's golf coach and comes into the tournament ranked No. 13 in the country behind No. 1 Indian Hills, No. 2 Odessa, and No. 3 McLennan CC.

"We need to stay poised and in the moment," NMJC men's golf head coach Gil Williams said. "Sand Creek is a difficult course in general, but if you throw some Kansas wind in it can become extremely taxing. Being able to maintain a levelheaded approach on a tough course with the possibility of weather changing in an instant, can separate the field. I think if we can remain patient and be ready to adapt, we have a good shot."Coach Williams and company come into nationals with one win on the season. 

NMJC has three top-5 finishes as a team and five top-5 finishes individually during the season. Oliver Ruutu won the Thunderbird Invitational for the second straight season and is the only T-Bird to get an individual victory this year.  

Oliver Ruutu will lead the T-Birds as their No. 1 player this week. Ruutu tees off at 11:30 a.m. CDT on Hole No. 1. The sophomore finished in a tie for sixth place at the national preview earlier in the season at 3-under and heads into Tuesday's round ranked as the No. 34 individual in the country. 

"Oliver is just really comfortable on that course," Coach Williams said. "The layout and turf have some similarities to the golf he grew up playing in Europe. He is also a good driver of the golf ball, which is one of the more important aspects of the game on that course."Alfie Mellor will come in the No. 2 spot this week. Mellor is set to tee off at 11:20 a.m. The sophomore finished T-51 at the Sand Creek Station national preview earlier this year. 

Freshman Tristan Kolasinski is the No. 3 man and tees off at 11:10 a.m. CDT. The Kobylanka, Poland native did not compete at the preview this season, but he has three top-10 finishes this year. 

January enrollee Eino Haaslahti slides in at No. 4 this week in the lineup. The freshman will tee off at 11 a.m. CDT.  

The final T-Bird in the lineup is Riley Apodaca. The freshman from Deming, NM heads to the first tee at 10:50 a.m. CDT.

Sophomore Nick Friedrichsen is the substitute this week for the Thunderbirds. The substitute can be inserted into the Thunderbirds lineup at the start of each round due to an injury or because of performance.    

Tee times are as follows from Hole No. 1, Riley Apodaca will tee off at 10:50 a.m. CDT, Eino Haaslahti at 11 a.m. CDT, Tristan Kolasinski at 11:10 a.m. CDT, Alfie Mellor at 11:20 a.m. CDT, and Oliver Ruutu at 11:30 a.m. CDT.

T-Bird fans can follow the live scoring by clicking here and for live updates follow NMJC men's golf's Instagram @nmjc_mgolf.