New golf team wins fifth place in Las Vegas tourney

Vegas was good to this college’s golf team.

Coach Angela Olivarri said two graduating team members were encouraged by the team’s fifth-place finish in the National Collegiate Golf Tournament last weekend in Las Vegas to continue playing at a four-year university.

She said the team finished only four points behind the fourth-place team.

The eight-member team — broken up into two-person teams for the tournament’s format — competed against 52 teams from 37 colleges and universities in the tournament Nov. 6-8.

Only two community colleges entered, including this college, Olivarri said. Schools came from all over the United States, she said “from Hawaii to New York.”

Jorge Posadas, director of student life, said he was impressed with how well this college did compared with such prestigious schools as the University of California-Los Angeles, Rutgers University and Syracuse University.

Because the team bested many well-established teams from bigger schools, Olivarri said members are more confident that they will qualify for those teams when they transfer.

The format of the tournament was a two-person scramble, meaning that teams are divided into two-person teams that play together. Both players drive the ball four times each, and the members play from the best lie, or where the ball lands, Olivarri said.

Players were given a day to practice at the Silverstone Golf Course, allowing them to become comfortable with the intricacies of the course, she said.

Silverstone was a challenging, beautiful course, she said, but the day of practice got them accustomed to it.

She also said the weather was good for the most part, aside from an hour or so of cold and windy conditions Sunday.

The team is finished competing for the remainder of the semester, but Olivarri said another tournament is expected in the spring.

Tryouts will be next semester, and the young team’s success has garnered interest from three high school seniors who have asked about joining the team, she said.

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