The NCMC Men's Golf team traveled to Panora, IA on Wednesday and Thursday this week to close out their regular season at the 36-hole Southwestern Community College Premier held at Lake Panorama National Golf Course. The tournament field consisted of four teams in the Top 10 of the NJCAA DII rankings. (#4 Kirkwood Community College, #7 Des Moines Area CC, #8 Northeast CC and #10 Southeast CC).
The Pirate Men held their own and kept pace in the loaded tournament field beating two of those teams by the conclusion of the event. The NCMC (A) fired a team score of 301 in the first round putting them in 2nd place in the tournament after Tuesday's play. The NCMC (B) team also played well shooting a team tally of 318. NCMC (B) went out early in the final round and stayed consistent posting a team score of 321. The NCMC (A) team was in the final pairings for the event, firing a team score of 307, finishing in 4th place at the event with a 36-hole mark of 608. Alvaro Alegria was the low Pirate individual and named to the All-Tournament Team, finishing in 5th place after firing 18-hole rounds of 72-77. Alegria recorded seven birdies for the tournament, five of them coming in the first round and played the Par 5's at an average of 4.63 for the event.
Coach Swann had these remarks, "Really proud of this team for closing out our regular season strong, Lake Panorama is a great test of golf and the guys battled hard for two straight days against some great competition. The tournament automatically has a good feeling to it when you've got five teams inside of the Top 25 competing against each other. For our guys, being in the final pairing with those teams and knocking off two Top 10 teams says a lot about them and how much they have matured through the year. The guys led the field in Par 3 scoring average and played the Par 5's in -9 for the week. Congratulations to Alvaro on making the All-Tournament Team after two solid rounds of golf. Being in the final group of a tournament can add some pressure sometimes, Alvaro handled it like a pro and made some huge putts this week. Postseason play next week and we are ready for the challenge".
Behind Alegria, Kaleb Groomer (7th) earned a Top 10 at the event firing rounds of 77-73 for a 36-hole score of 149. Groomer led the event in Par three scoring average at Even par (3.00) and carded three birdies and an eagle at the event.
Guillermo Gomez (11th) and Dylan Groomer (15th) both earned a Top 15 at the tournament with Gomez firing rounds of 74-77 for a 36-hole tally of 151. Groomer was right behind shooting a day one score of 77 and improving that by posting a final round score of 75.
Lucas Viertaler played well for NCMC, firing a round of 75 on Day 1 and score of 82 on Day 2. Viertaler led the tournament with 26 pars made over the course of 36 holes. Jorge Gomez and Grant Leamer tied each other with matching 36-hole scores of 160. Leamer had rounds of 81-79 to get to his total while Gomez shot rounds of 83-77. Leamer and Gomez also both recorded three birdies on Day 1 and each had one birdie on Day 2. Lucas Schussler was right behind with a two-day score of 161. Schussler shot 80 in round one and a final round score of 81. Riley Gott finished with a 36-hole score of 167 after shotting an opening round of 83 and final round 84. Gott recorded three birdies in Round 1 and two birdies in the final round.
The Pirates will now turn their attention to the NJCAA South Central District Championship on April 28th-29th. The event is held at Bogey Creek Golf Course in Farmington, MO. 36 holes will be played on Day 1 with the event concluding play with 18 holes on Day 2. Shotgun start for the event will begin at 8:00 A.M.
Full SWCC Premier Leaderboard/Stats:
https://swcciowa.leaderboardking.com/leaderboards/6729/layout_ncaa?game_id=14121