BLINN GOLF TEAMS BOTH WIN TEXAS INTERCOLLEGIATE
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
Dominance comes in many forms.
For the Blinn men’s and women’s golf teams, it came in the form of history at the Texas Intercollegiate meet.
The Buccaneer men and women each produced program-best performances on Monday and Tuesday en route to first-place finishes at Hawks Creek Golf Course in Westworth Village, Texas.
On day one of the nine-team men’s tournament Monday, the Buccaneers rebounded from a 2-over-par showing in round one to shoot a program-record 17-under in the second round later in the day. Blinn then followed that with a 10-under round three on Tuesday to close the tournament at a program-record 29-under, 11 strokes better than rival and second-place finisher Tyler Junior College.
“We played with a lot of maturity the past two days,” Blinn head coach David Johnson said. “A couple of our guys grew up over the summer and found out that golf is as much a physical game as it is a mental one. Everybody chipped in and it was a total team effort.”
Sophomore Jaxson Daniele also made history for the Bucs as he placed second individually by setting a new program mark at 12-under. He was followed by 6-under efforts from sophomores Cody Peters and Ben Potter, who tied for sixth place.
“The sophomores showed that they improved over the summer, and our freshmen played about as well as they could in their first college tournament,” Johnson added.
Freshman Broc Talamantez placed 17th at 1-over, and fellow freshman Brody Horsak tied for 19th at 2-over. Sophomore Adrian Rodriguez competed for Blinn as an individual and tied Horsak.
The Blinn women also put their collective best foot forward on their way to a comeback victory over Weatherford College.
The Bucs claimed a two-shot victory in the nine-team competition by overcoming a five-stroke hole in the third round.
“This was a team win,” said assistant coach Gary Belt, who leads the women’s squad during tournaments. “Everyone made huge contributions to the victory, and it was a great way to start the year.”
Blinn holed 12 birdies and an eagle across the final 18 holes to finish 6-under in the third round and 24-over for the tournament.
With a team score of 291 following Monday’s first round, and a score of 594 by day’s end, the Bucs recorded the program’s lowest team round and lowest two-round score before ending the tournament with an all-time-low three-round score of 888.
All five starters for Blinn finished 20th or better in the field of 54.
Freshman Ava Murcer led the way at 6-over, good for eighth place. Sophomore Abiha Syed was 7-over for 10th place; freshman Jacqueline Lawrence placed 11th at 8-over; sophomore Daniah Syed took 16th after finishing 13-over; and freshman Zoe Nobile was 17-over for 20th.
Sophomore Lillie Webster and freshman Arianna Rodriguez competed for the Bucs as individuals and carded a 29- and 30-over for 37th and 40th place, respectively.
Up next, the Blinn men and women will compete in the two-day Waco River Classic beginning Monday, Sept. 15, in Waco, Texas.