NMMI Sports Press
Phalatphon Viboonviriyasakul, affectionately known as Putter, won the WJCAC Men's Golf individual championship Monday afternoon at the Rockwind Community Links in Hobbs.
Putter shot a 2-under 69 in both rounds on the par-71 course about two hours from the NMMI campus near the Texas border. The sophomore from Thailand had previously won at Rockwind back in October at the Thunderbird National Preview, putting the conference on notice before the official spring season began.
"I know where I can miss or where I can aim to get on the green and I just go into each hole thinking, hit the fairway, get on and then one putt," Putter said. "I used what we practiced at NMMI and the birdies were enough today."
After shooting 2-under in the opening round Monday morning, Putter suffered a string of bogies during his second round to move to 2-over, which would have finished outside the top 10, but on the back nine he rebounded with three clutch holes.
First-year head coach Kris Ward said Putter was hungry for a better performance after letting last week's tourney at Rockwind get away from him in the third and final round.
"He was in first last weekend after 36 holes and just sort of let the lead slip away, and he wasn't very happy about that," Ward said. "He struggled in the second round today as well and then decides to go eagle, birdie, birdie and make the rest of the field try to catch him. Something about his course, the way he tackles it, his mindset. He stays locked in and I couldn't be more thrilled for him."
Three other Broncos finished in the top 15 as the team finished fourth behind New Mexico Junior College, Odessa College and Midland College, the top-ranked squads in the country. NMMI was in second place after one round, but both NMJC and Odessa posted team scores of 7-under in the final round.
"This conference and this region are stacked. There are 10 teams in the region, all ranked in the top 16, so every time we come out it's going to be a grind," said Ward. "I thought being in second after the first round was great and then we kind of ran into a buzzsaw, despite playing better. But teams had to beat us today, we definitely didn't beat ourselves."
Tyler Jackson finished tied for ninth at 1-over (+4, -3), Thavichakree Arunmala was tied for 12th at 2-over (-2, +4) and Jackson Hicks was also part of a six-way tie for 12th (+2, even).
As the other teams started eating in the clubhouse, the Broncos were still on the 18th green, exchanging hugs, high fives and atta-boys despite not knowing where they finished. Even Aden Morales and Andreas Skaar, who finished near the back of the pack, had smiles and congratulations for their teammates.
For foreign players like Putter, Skaar and Arunmala, also known as Ten, having a close-knit team makes the challenge of college athletics and attending a military school a much more enjoyable task.
"Being on the NMMI team has been fantastic. It feels more like family," said Putter. "We always try to pick everyone up. If someone isn't playing good, we want to play better to help lift them. If we have a problem or a mistake, we can always talk to each other and support each other. I have loved playing for NMMI."
The Broncos' next two tournaments will be the most crucial of the season, as the top five teams from each will automatically qualify for the NJCAA Division-I National Championship. The first is the Bi-State Championship at Legends Golf Course in Kingsland, Texas on April 14 and the second is the NJCAA Region 5 Championship at Quicksand GC in San Angelo, Texas on April 28.
If the Broncos can't qualify there, they could be the recipient of one of the four at-large bids. Either way, they are hopefully optimistic about their chances to make it back to Rockwind for the national tournament in May.