NMMI Sports Press
It was two completely different 18-hole rounds at the inaugural Sonny Wiginton Intercollegiate Golf Tournament, held at the New Mexico Military Institute Golf Course on Sunday, Mar. 5th. The winds picked up dramatically for the second half of the 36-hole, 1-day competition, sending most scores, including the host team NMMI Broncos', into the stratosphere.
"After the first 18, there were four teams tied at 284 and we were four shots back at 288," explained head Bronco golf coach Andy Robertson. "Our second round came in at 304. We didn't get it done, we needed one more good score and ended up finishing fifth. I thought the winds would be in our favor, but it ended up hurting the home team; why I don't know," continued coach.
Although disappointed with the afternoon team tally, coach Robertson was pleased with the performance of Peter Choi. Choi shot two-over par to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place in the individual portion of the tournament.
As a team going into the tournament on Sunday, NMMI was listed as 17th in the nation, but coach Robertson doesn't think they'll drop down in the rankings, since two of the teams ahead of NMMI were four-year schools, and because they finished ahead of ninth-ranked New Mexico Junior College.
Regardless of the new rankings, Robertson wants his team to focus on the next few weeks, which includes a tournament during NMMI's scheduled Spring Break. "The next two weeks we have conference venues and hopefully we'll get back to the 288 scores and do a little better," he said.
Team Results: 1st, Midland College, 284-284—568; 2nd, Western New Mexico University, 284-287—571; 3rd, McLennan Community College, 284-291—575; 4th, Colorado School of Mines, 284-298—582; 5th, New Mexico Military Institute, 288-304—592; 6th, New Mexico Junior College, 296-302—598; 7th, Garden City Community College, 298-304—602.
NMMI Individual Results: T7, Peter Choi, 70-72—142; 26 T26, Lucas Bohannon, 74-75—149; T26, Paul Choi, 73-76—149; T32, Paul Montoya, 71-82—153; T 38, Arturo Quintero, 74-81—155; DNF, Deric Loving, 76-WD.