Highlanders qualify for 20th consecutive NJCAA tournament

The McLennan Highlanders are headed to their 20th consecutive NJCAA Division I Golf National Championship after finishing fourth in the region.

Scores from this week's NJCAA Southwest District 2 Championship were combined with the previous Southwest Championship to determine the five qualifying times.
Midland, New Mexico, Odessa and Ranger also qualified for the national tournament to be held May 16-19 at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kansas.
The McLennan Highlanders shot 296-281-284 – 861 this week to finish tied for sixth place.

Midland finished in first place with 284-277-277 – 838, followed by Odessa in second with 280-286-278 – 844 and New Mexico in third with 285-285-288 – 855. Western Texas was fourth with 291-287-279 – 857 and Tyler was fifth with 291-288-280 – 859.

Carter Patterson shot 73-71-68- 212 to lead the Highlanders, finishing tied for seventh place and earning all-tournament honors.

Other McLennan scores: Shoichiro Kato, tied for 16th, 73-72-69 – 214; Liam Gobin, tied for 30th, 79-66-75 – 220; Joel Cann, tied for 35th, 74-75-73 – 222; Nik Blalock, tied for 40th, 78-72-74 – 224; and Peter Clark, tied for 68th, 76-83-77 – 236.

Other team scores: Weatherford, tied for sixth, 286-285-290 – 861; Ranger, eighth, 294-286-290 – 870; Blinn, ninth, 295-287-290 –872; New Mexico Military, 10th, 288-302-286 – 876; and Jacksonville, 11th, 302-297-302 – 901.