Chankarn Leads Flyers Against Tough Field at Cutter Creek Intercollegiate
With its final regular season spring tournament in the record books, the Sandhills Community College men's golf team will begin preparations to make a bid for a third consecutive NJCAA Division III national title in Chautauqua, NY on June 7-10.
Freshman Watcharakan Chankarn posted scores of 78-76-73-227 to lead the Flyers at the 54-hole Cutter Creek Intercollegiate that was completed at Cutter Creek Golf Club in Snow Hill, NC on Sunday.
The Pinecrest High School grad finished in a tie for 38th place in the field of 78 golfers. The medalist was Lucas Augustsson of East Carolina who shot 74-71-68-213 to edge Bryce Corbett of Radford University by one stroke.
The only junior college represented in a field of eight NCAA Division l and one NCAA Division II teams, the Flyers posted scores of 307-316-301-924 and finished in 10th place. East Carolina, 295-296-277-868 edged Jacksonville State by one stroke for the team title.
The other Sandhills CC scores at the tournament co-hosted by East Carolina and Elon were: T51 Alex Martin 79-77-75-231, 57. Ben Read 75-81-77-233, 67. Logan Hay 75-85-78-238, T68 Noah Maness 79-82-78-239, 73. Liam Harris 84-83-76-243.
According to Coach Gus Ulrich, the team will take a break until after Easter and then begin qualifying rounds to determine the players that will represent the team in New York.
"I can tell you it was a great experience and the tournament was extremely well run," he said on Monday. "The boys were so happy every day just being a part of a top-notch golf tournament at the DI level.
"We performed very poorly. However, they got some great experience and a good taste of what the competition is like at that level. The conditions were extremely tough especially on day two. But I would say overall it was a great experience for the boys next year. We will perform better if we get invited again."
C. Bergmann
