STERLING, COLORADO – Maintaining an undefeated record for the spring season, the Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) men’s golf team trounced the competition at the Northeastern Junior College (NJC) Tournament on April 4-5 to clinch their fourth successive victory.
The Lancers shot a two-day cumulative score of 556 strokes at 16 under par, matching an EWC team record set at the NJC Tournament in Sterling, Colorado the previous fall.
Central Wyoming College came in second place at the NJC spring tournament, grossing 577 strokes after two rounds. Central Wyoming was followed by Otero College (587), Lamar Community College (599), McCook Community College (599), NJC (599) and North Platte Community College (625).
Lancer freshman Taiki Sugawara, hailing from Aizuwakamatsu, Japan, captured first place with a combined score of 133, coming in 10 below par. Sugawara shot consistently on both days, tallying 66 strokes in the first round and 67 in the second.
“The guys played great on Thursday,” coach Zach Smith said. “Taiki Sugawara and (freshman) Braylon Bingham played fantastic rounds on Thursday, shooting 10 under par between the two of them to help us take the lead into day two. Taiki followed up the next day with another amazing round to get the individual win. We tied a team record that was set in the fall at (-16) par at the same tournament.”
The Lancers hosted the first round of the Eastern Wyoming College Tournament on Thursday and play the second round beginning today at 9 a.m. at the Cottonwood Golf Course located in Torrington.
“We look forward to hosting at home this week to hopefully make it five straight wins for this spring,” Smith said.
Top 20 leaderboard
Sophomore Leander Suttka, from Berlin, Germany, tied for fourth place on the final leaderboard, shooting a 71 in both rounds for a cumulative score of 142. Suttka’s two-day tally came in at one under par.
Bingham and British freshman Joshua Chapman tied for sixth place with an overall score of 143 (on par).
Bingham totaled 68 strokes on Thursday and 75 on Saturday. Chapman advanced from a first-round score of 72 to 71 in the second round.
Utah freshman Tytan Birchell finished the tournament in 11th place, shooting 145 after two days at two over par, improving from 75 on Thursday to 70 on Friday.
Freshman Mathis Fortin, from Ottawa, Canada, and freshman Coltin Powell, hailing from Ogden, Utah, both tallied 147 strokes (four over par) during the tournament to tie for 15th place. Fortin shot 70 in the first round and 77 in the second, with Powell shooting 73 and 74.
Utah sophomore Ryker Dunkley tied for 20th place, moving up on the leaderboard from 77 on Thursday to 74 on Friday for a combined score of 151 at eight over par.
Additional results
T24 Jax Oviatt –153 (74-79, +10)
30 Brodey Deacon – 156 (79-77, +13)
T37 Jordan Hunt – 160 (76-84, +17)
T43 Tyler Wallace – 163 (77-86, +20)
T49 Tyler Fraser – 168 (79-89, +25)
