By: Mike Smith
For the third time in school history, with all three under Head Coach
Chris Robinson, the Dodge City men's golf team recorded a seventh-place team finish at the NJCAA Division I National Championship. The seventh-place finish ties the best finish in program history as the Conquistadors also finished seventh in 2015 and 2012.
Participating in nationals for the 35th straight year, the Conqs posted a four-round team score of 1,192 (+40) to earn seventh place out of the 24 teams that qualified. The Conqs came out of the gates strong with a +6 and +4 scores of 294 and 292 in the first and second rounds, then capped the tournament with a 300 and 306 in the third and fourth rounds.
Rhys Nicholas led the Conq performances as he tied for 11th place with a 291 (+3) score, earning him NJCAA second team All-American honors. Nicholas opened nationals with an even-par 72 in the first round and then would post a -2 round of 70 in the second round. He finished out the tournament with rounds of 75 and 74 in the third and fourth rounds.
Drew Heinz posted a score of 298 to finish 29th out of 106 golfers who competed in all four rounds. He was consistent across the tournament, recording a 75 in the first, third, and fourth rounds, while his best round came on day two with a one-over-par 73.
Behind a score of 303,
Colby Hays tied for 47th place as he posted rounds of 78, 74, 74, and 77 over the four rounds of competition.
Luke Shelton tied for 56th place, shooting a 305 carding rounds of 72, 77, 76, and 80.
Joao Iglesias finished out the Conqs scoring, finishing with a 312 to tie for 88th place, posting rounds of 75, 75, 78, and 84.
The Conqs capped the season, matching the program's best team finish with seventh place, and the Top 10 finish is the seventh under Head Coach
Chris Robinson.