MCC golfers finish strong at national tourney

Coach Tyler Loop (right) and his McCook Community golfers line up a final time during their NJCAA national tournament experience at Lubbock, Texas — home of Texas Tech University — this week.

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LUBBOCK, Texas – The McCook Community College golf team wrapped up the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Golf Championship Thursday with a 22nd-place finish.

MCC fired back-to-back rounds of 312 on the final two days to finish the tournament with a score of 1,275. The Indians finished 35 strokes in front of 23rd place Estrella Mountain (Arizona) and 89 shots better than Region IX foe Central Wyoming. Despite picking up 26 shots since Monday over No. 21 Snead State (Alabama), MCC finished five shots back of the 21st-place of the Alabama school.

“After a very bad first round they played as a top 20 team these final three days,” MCC Coach Tyler Loop said. “The course played long and tough as a championship course should, and other than today the weather was not good.”

Hutchinson Community College wins the championship with a 16-under par 1,136, leading Odessa College by nine strokes.

Midland Community College was third, Garden City and Western Texas College tied for fourth place.

Freshman Filip Lanc’ (Czech Republic) posted the low MCC score on the day with a 77. He finished with a tournament score of 317, tied for 79th place.

Sophomores Deniz Sari (Koblenz, Germany) and Kojie Santos (Melbourne, Australia) started the day tied, both shot 78s and both finished with four-day totals of 321.

KC Carlson (sophomore, Delta, Colo.) wraps up his MCC career with a final-round 82 and finished with a 324 for the tournament.

Adam Durband, freshman (Heswall, England) also shot a 79 Thursday. He finished with a 332.

“It was a great experience for these guys, especially the sophomores that missed out last year due to COVID-19,” said Loop. “They did me proud and McCook proud.”

Final top three teams

1. Hutchinson CC -16 280-280-288-288 – 1,136

2. Odessa College -7 283-293-284-285 – 1,145

3. Midland CC +3 283-294-289-289 – 1,155