Indian golfers reach top four again at Wyoming tourney

TORRINGTON, Wyo. – Eastern Wyoming ran away with this week’s Region IX golf tournament on their home course posting an eight-under 280 on Thursday and coming back Friday with 13 shots under par to win by 30 shots over second place Otero Junior College.

MCC began and ended the day in fourth place posting a +22, which was 10 shots behind third-place Central Wyoming.

“It was another perfect day for golf and it showed in the scores,” said MCC Coach Tyler Loop. “It was still a fourth-place finish, but they are close to some high-quality teams.”

For the second straight week, freshman Matt Grimonprez (Villenuave-d’ascq, France) posted MCC’s lowest score shooting back-to-back rounds of 73 to finish two-over par for the tournament, tied for 12th place. Freshman Andrew Brown (Wollongong, Australia) shot the best individual round for MCC shooting a 71 Friday and finished at four-over for a two-round 148.

Freshman Zachary Woods (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) had rounds of 75 and 74 to finish five-over par. Ross Donachie (freshman, Narin, Scotland) shot rounds of 78 and 77 while freshman Chance Gambini (Las Vegas, Nev.) posted rounds of 82 and 78.

“I'm really proud of the guys in the way they have turned things around, we are starting to gain a lot of confidence at the right time,” said Loop.

The Indians will wrap up the regular season Monday and Tuesday at North Platte for the Nebraska Junior College Showcase.

This year there is a change in the determinations for qualifying for the NJCAA National Tournament. In previous years the Region IX teams competed in a year-long standings race with points awarded each tournament in the fall and spring. This year the NJCAA will consider Region IX and Region I (Arizona) their own districts, and they will play their own year-end tournament with two teams automatically qualifying for the national tournament.

The District 1 Championship is set for April 25-26 at the Walking Stick Golf Course at Pueblo, Colo. Teams competing from Region IX include: Eastern Wyoming, Central Wyoming, Otero, McCook, Northeastern Junior College and Lamar. Teams from District 1 include: Pima, Estrella Mountain and Eastern Arizona.

Up-to-date information about MCC golf, including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website.

TEAM RESULTS AT E.WYO. TOURNAMENT

1. Eastern Wyoming - 21 280-275 – 555

3. Otero JC + 9 296-289 – 585

2. Central Wyoming + 12 295-293 – 588

4. McCook CC + 22 303-295 – 598

5. Northeastern JC + 37 313-300 – 613

6. Lamar CC + 44 316-304 – 620

MCC INDIVIDUAL SCORES

T12. Matt Grimonprez + 2 73-73 – 146

T16. Andrew Brown + 4 77-71 – 148

T21. Zachary Woods + 5 75-74 – 149

28. Ross Donachie + 11 78-77 – 155

T33. Chance Gambini + 16 82-78 – 160

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