Rachel Westby launches a ball deep into wine valley at the Whitman Invitational on Oct. 1.
The men and women’s golf teams competed in the NIC Invite at the Avondale Golf Club in Hayden on Oct. 9 and 10.
The NIC men’s “B” team won the tournament by overcoming an eight stroke deficit to the Community Colleges of Spokane. The women’s team placed fourth in the tournament.
“I was impressed with the consistency,” said head coach Derrick Thompson on the men’s win. “We’re so deep. Nine or 10 guys can shoot the same scores.”
The men’s “B” team finished the tournament with a team score of 600. They walked away from the first day of the tournament in second place and eight strokes behind the CC of Spokane.
Dylan Morrison had the best score on the winning NIC “B” team shooting a 73 each day, for a total of 146.
“Dylan Morrison played very well,” said Thompson. “I could tell in practice he was going to shoot good scores and today he did.”
Justin Newton and John Forsmann finished the tournament with scores of 151 and Austin Westphal followed closely behind his teammates with a 152.
The NIC women’s team shot a 726 for the two-day tournament, which put them in fourth place.
Rachel Westby, who was ranked 22nd by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) going into the tournament, shot a 174 to lead the NIC women’s team.
“I’m not satisfied with my score on the first day,” said Westby, 19, English. “I did kind of bad on the back nine and I hit badly off the tee.”
Freshman Arlee Coleman of Chewelah, Wash., also finished the tournament with a 174.
“I chipped really well and putted really well,” said Coleman, 18, business communications.
Makena Schevenius finished with a 182, Chelsea Porter shot a 201 and Kayley Shupe finished the tournament with a 205 for the Lady Cardinals.
The NIC men’s “A” team shot a 615 in the tournament, which was good enough for fourth place. Taylor Reed led the Cardinal’s “A” team, shooting a 152.
“I didn’t do badly,” said Taylor Reed, 19, business communications. “It’s a tough course if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Drew Ferguson was one stroke behind Reed, finishing the tournament with a 153.
“I putted poorly,” said Ferguson, 18, business administrations. “But I struck the ball well and managed the course.”
Eli Bowen and Brennan Stillinger each shot a 155 for the Cardinals.
“I was -1 through the first 12 (holes),” said Stillinger. “I had a good stretch of birdies and made putts, but I had a train wreck that led to four or five bad holes.”
The Whitworth University women’s team won the tournament with a team score of 672. Rocky Mountain placed second in the tournament on the men’s and women’s sides.
The men shot a 604 as a team and the women shot a 685. Rachel Hosterman led the entire women’s field shooting a 159.
Earlier in the month, the NIC men’s team placed third in the Whitworth Fall Invitational on Oct. 2 and 3 at the Spokane Country Club. They shot a 594 (+18) as a team over the two days.
Four of the seven NIC players that participated finished in the top ten individually. Taylor Reed finished tied for fifth place shooting a 147 (+3) to lead the Cardinals, while Spencer Skipper placed seventh with a 149 (+5).
Eli Bowen and Drew Ferguson each shot +6, which was enough to force a four-way tie for eighth place.
Host Whitworth University won the tournament, shooting a 587 (+11). Puget Sound University was five strokes behind finishing the tournament with a score of 592 (+16).
Dustin Hegge of Pacific Lutheran took first place individually shooting a 142 (-2), followed closely by Adam Bean of Puget Sound who had an even-par tournament. Christian Boudreau of Whitworth and Alex Fitch of Linfield tied for third place.
The day the men’s tournament got under way in Spokane, Rachel Westby broke the 36- hole NIC record in Walla Walla, Wash. at the Whitman Invite.
On Oct. 1, Westby shot a 77, and the following day she shot an 81, which brought her two day tournament score to a 158. She finished in third place.
The Lady Cardinals finished in fourth place out of the seven teams that participated in the tournament.
Arlee Coleman and Chelsea Porter posted scores of 173 and 180.
Whitman won the tournament with a score of 633, and Whitworth finished second posting a 658.
Katie Zajicek of Whitman had the best individual score of the tournament with a 149 (+5) and Emily Guthrie of Whitworth finished second individually shooting a 156 (+12).
“It’s a tough course if you make tough mental mistakes,” Thompson said.
