T-Bird Women's Golf Prepares for 1st National Championship Appearance

The New Mexico Junior College women's golf team competes at the NJCAA DI Women's Golf Championship in Viera, Fla., May 20-23. 

The 72-hole tournament is hosted by Eastern Florida State at the Duran Golf Club just outside of Melbourne, Fla.

NMJC women's golf head coach Kendalyn Ferguson is in her first season as a collegiate coach. Ferguson attended McMurray University and was a four year student-athlete with the golf program.

Ferguson hit the ground running when her hire was announced in January of 2023. The native Texan went straight to work building a team that featured four Texans, a Wisconsinite, and four international student-athletes from England, Thailand, and Japan.

The Thunderbirds inaugural season has been loaded with success. The T-Birds have won three tournaments, finished in the top three at 11 tournaments this year, and are ranked No. 4 as a team in the final clippd standings. NMJC also produced six individual tournament winners this year. 

 "I knew the talent we had coming in, so I thought it would be a huge positive if the girls were ranked top 5 in the nation and qualified for nationals," Ferguson said. "After a long year of hard work, these girls placed 2nd at the district tournament to advance to nationals and are currently ranked 4th in the nation. I truly don't think you could ask for a greater first year than what these girls accomplished." 

The Thunderbirds come into the national championship ranked number four in the country behind No. 1 Seminole State, No. 2 Daytona State, and No. 3 Odessa College.

The Thunderbirds clinched the second automatic berth for the district with a 51-over par runner-up finish (315-301-299) at the Southwest District Championship on April 29-May 1. The T-Birds were runner-up to Odessa College by six shots and finished nine shots clear of McLennan CC. Only the top two teams from the Southwest District Championship receive an automatic invite.

"Based off play and rankings, I knew the girls would qualify from either playing really great at the district championship or falling short and earning an at-large bid," Ferguson said, "As a team we discussed how much better it would feel if we earned that place in Florida. After sitting 3rd after the first day of district, they battled back and ended up in 2nd, six strokes shy of the lead at the end of the tournament. To us it felt like a win because they knew that their hard work had paid off and that they had earned this spot at nationals."

Hinano Kishida finished in a tie for first at 5-over par (76-73-72) to earn medalist honors in Weatherford, Texas. The Nagano, Japan native has 11 top 10 finishes this year and two individual titles. Kishida's best finish is a 4-under 68 at the High Country Collegiate. The score is the NMJC school record for lowest par-72 total. The freshman is ranked No. 18 nationally by clippd.

Nanami Hayakawa has 11 top 10 finishes as a freshman. The Nagano, Japan native owns school record for lowest par-70 career round with a 3-under 67 at the Westerner's Women's Invite. Hayakawa has three individual wins so far this season, all of which came in the fall semester. The freshman is ranked No. 13 in the country in the final clippd rankings.

Olivia Heard comes into the final tournament of the season as the No. 3 woman in the lineup and is ranked number 23 on the clippd standings individually. Heard has seven top-10 finishes and one victory on NMJC's home course at the Thunderbird Invitational. In the Thunderbird Invitational, she matched her career-low round of 70 (-2).

The fourth member of the lineup is freshman Wawa Booncharn. The Bangkok, Thailand, native has seven top 10 finishes in the 2023-24 season and has shot a career low round of 74 this season. Booncharn is No. 35 in the final individual clippd standings.

Ashleigh Johnson is the fifth and final T-Bird contributing to the team score. Johnson has placed in the top 15 four times this season. She is currently ranked number 75 in the clippd rankings. Johnson's lowest 18 hole total this year is 77, which came in the first tournament of the season.

Kyleigh McGowen is the sub for the Thunderbirds. Coach Ferguson has the option to use her to replace an injured player or an athlete who is having a tough showing at the tournament. McGowen has finished in the top 15 seven times this season. McGowen has a season-low 18 hole score of 74 and is ranked No. 54 in the final clippd rankings.

NMJC's seventh student-athlete on the trip is Talyssa Griner. The NMJC spring of 2024 graduate will serve as Ferguson's assistant for the duration of the national championship.  

"Each of these young ladies has their own strengths to benefit the team," Ferguson said. "More than anything, they care about each other and want to compete and win as a TEAM. I have seen six individual wins this year between them, but they are even more excited when they get the job done together."

For the T-Birds to have a successful showing this week, they will have to focus on a few key areas.

"Our girls will need to limit big numbers, try to avoid 3-putts, and make at least 60% of their up-and-down to have success this week," Ferguson said. "It's always a positive when par-5 scoring stays around even. Starting each day off on a positive note and getting into a rhythm is very important but finishing even or better within the last four holes is a goal the girls have been working on all year."

"Overall, I truly believe the mental side of this game is the most important because having a short memory on the course and staying positive is what allows you to accomplish the above listed."

The T-Birds will tee off starting Monday, May 20 at 8:15 a.m. EDT at Duran Golf Club. Tee times are as follows, Ashleigh Johnson at 8:15 a.m. EDT, Wawa Booncharn at 8:23 a.m. EDT, Olivia Heard at 8:33 a.m. EDT, Nanami Hayakawa at 8:42 a.m. EDT, and Hinano Kishida at 8:51 a.m. EDT.

You can follow the live scoring by clicking here and for live updates follow NMJC women's golf's Instagram @nmjc_wgolf.