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Mens golf takes home two titles

Men's Golf

Mens golf takes home two titles

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NIC freshman Angus Montgomery works on his short game in practice at Avondale Golf Course in Hayden Lake. Garrett Cabeza/Sentinel

 

The seventh-ranked North Idaho College mens golf team earned its fourth consecutive victory of the season dating back to the fall.

Its latest victory came at the Northwest Nazarene University Intercollegiate at Ridgecrest Golf Course in Nampa, Idaho, on March 31 and April 1. NIC tied with host Northwest Nazarene in windy and rainy conditions.

NIC freshman Angus Montgomery, from Middlesbrough, England, took home the individual title shooting rounds of 70, 67 and 74 to earn his second win of the season.

NIC was the only two-year school competing at the invitational on the mens and womens side.

“We definitely do take pride in being a two-year school and being able to beat the four-year schools, especially the ones around here that are pretty good,” NIC head coach Derrick Thompson said.

“I think even as well as he (Montgomery) played, he felt he didn’t play his best, which is kind of a good sign, a sign of a great player that they’re never really satisfied,” Thompson said.

NIC shot rounds of 295, 292 and 303. Three other Cardinals finished in the top ten individually. Chris Cremer finished sixth with a 224 and Tanner Martin and Michael Porter tied for tenth with scores of 229.

“I felt like we could have done better,” Thompson said. “We could have I think pretty easily won that tournament outright. But to still get a share of the win is pretty good for us.”

On the womens side, the 14th-ranked Lady Cardinals were led by sophomore Jennie Williams, who finished 15th with a 184.

“Jennie, she’s been really solid for us,” Thompson said.

Fellow sophomore Madi Hauck made a hole-in-one on a 161-yard par 3 on the 12th hole in the first round.

“I could not believe it,” Hauck said. “I was in complete denial.”

NIC shot a 385 and 401 to finish last.

“For the weather conditions, I think we did alright for the most part,” Hauck said.

Lewis-Clark State College won the tournament shooting a two-round score of 642.

Thompson said the talented field factored into NIC’s fifth-place finish.

Previously, the NIC mens team came back from a seven-stroke deficit to win the Warrior Invitational on March 18 at Clarkston Golf and Country Club in Clarkston, Wash.

The Cardinal men played through cold and windy conditions on the first day to stay within seven shots of the lead.

“Day one was the harshest weather I have ever seen as a coach,” Thompson said. “It was almost impossible to control your golf ball and made scoring extremely difficult.”

Day two brought better weather conditions and better golf shots.

NIC’s men took a one-shot lead over Lewis-Clark State College, winning 654-653.

“There were a lot of really good players in the field who shot uncharacteristic scores,” Thompson said. “I was just glad we were able to hold on for the win.”

NIC posted 31 less shots than on the first day.

Martin posted rounds of 83 and 76 to earn a fifth-place finish individually and Montgomery shot rounds of 84 and 76 to earn a seventh-place finish.

The Lady Cardinals finished third, while Lewis-Clark State College won with a 776.

“I was proud of how the women handled it and kept competing,” Thompson said.

Hauck, one of only two sophomores on the womens team, led the Lady Cardinals with her two-round total of 185.

The NIC men and women competed at the Frontier Conference Tournament in Lewiston on Monday and Tuesday and will play in the Sasquatch Invitational in Spokane on Sunday and Monday. The NJCAA national championships will be held in mid-May.

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