Lincoln College's Hunter Bettis finishes in top 20 at NJCAA Golf Tournament day one

[May 25, 2016]  The 2016 NJCAA D-II Men's National Golf Tournament teed off Tuesday at the beautiful Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, IN, located 40 minutes southwest of South Bend, IN.

The 7119-yard Black Course was in mint condition as 120 National Qualifiers began their quest to become a National Champion. Conditions were near perfect as the sun was shining with little to no wind and temperatures in the mid-60's for the early tee times.

Lincoln College freshman Hunter Bettis (Bluffs, IL) represented Region XXIV as an individual qualifier and held his own on Day One. Bettis started his day at 7:54 a.m. on the 366-yard par-4 with a birdie to go 1-under par. On his 112-yard approach shot from the middle of the fairway, Bettis clipped the flag on his approach and preceded to hole his 12-foot birdie putt to start the day 1-under. Bettis' two playing partners, Matt Bennett (Iowa Lakes CC) and Jarred Hippen (Sauk Valley-IL CC) were not to be outdone and also birdied the opening par-4. This was 1 of 3 holes during round one that the three golfers matched each other with birdies!

Bettis followed his birdie with three straight pars until the 509-yard par-5 fifth hole where a 6-iron from 180-yards chased to the flag leaving an 18-foot eagle putt. A cautious lag first putt left Bettis with an easy tap-in birdie putt to go 2-under par after five holes. Not to be outdone, his playing partners also birdied the hole as all three golfers were under par early in the round. A bogie on the 215-yard par-3 8th hole set Bettis back to 1-under on his front side heading into the 9th hole. A pull-hook tee shot on the 9th hole set Bettis up with a long, tough punch-hook into the outward 9th hole which he executed perfectly dropping it 20-feet from the hole for a birdie chance. The 20-footer finished on the edge of the hole for an easy par-4 to finish the opening 9-holes at 1-under 35.

Bettis kept the momentum going at the turn piping his drive down the middle of the fairway on the 418-yard par-4 10th hole dropping his approach shot just 8 feet from the hole. The ball found the bottom of the cup moving Bettis to 2-under par on the day.

Trouble would ensue as an errant tee shot on the 416-yard par-4 11th found a rogue pine tree right of the dogleg left forcing an unplayable lie and a 1-shot penalty. Bettis struggled to a double-bogey moving him to even par on the day. More trouble came on the 442-yard par-4 12th hole. After busting a drive into the wind down the middle of the fairway, Bettis was left with a difficult 4-iron into a front hole location. A clanky approach found its way into a lateral water hazard just left of the green which led to a second consecutive double-bogey and moving him to +2 after 12.

Bettis displayed his patience on the next hole, a 202-yard par-3 into a 10-12 mph wind pulling out the same 4-iron that led him into the drink on the previous hole. This one, however, was struck perfectly and landed 18 feet from the hole leaving a right-to-left birdie putt. A well-struck putt set on the edge of the hole leaving an easy bounce-back par keeping him at 2-over par.

Bettis would gain a shot back on the 479-yard par-5 15th hole playing downwind today. A 7-iron from 195-yards and the right rough settled in leaving him another 18-foot putt, this time for eagle. Again, a solid stoke left him on the left edge for another easy tap-in birdie four moving Bettis to 1-over par.

The difficult par-3, 196-yard 16th showed no challenge to Bettis as his tee shot challenged the flag dropping in 12-feet away. What appeared to be a straight uphill putt from all angles eventually broke 5 inches left leaving Bettis with a somewhat disappointing tap-in par, if there is such a thing as a 'disappointing' par.

A solid par on the par-4 17th set up Bettis for the finishing par-5, 551-yard 18th. His drive split the middle of the fairway leaving 260-yards over water into a tight pin. Playing it as he should, Bettis played a 9-iron layup shot to 110 yards leaving a straight-forward 52-degree approach shot to the front hole location. What's considered his "money club," the 52-degree wedge approach shot finished just 16 feet right of the hole leaving an uphill putt played to the right lip of the cup. After another solid stroke, this time instead of hanging on the lip, the putt fell 6 inches straight down into the cup for a finishing birdie-4 and a first round even-par 72.

Bettis' even-par round was good enough to place him inside the top-20 as a T-13. His playing partners finished at 72 (Bennett, T-13) and 71 (Hippen, T-3). The three-some will be paired together again for Day Two with an 11:57 a.m. tee time. Tyler JC's Marco Maldonado leads the field with an impressive 8-under par 64 while shooting a blistering 28 on the par-36 back nine today. Maldonado holds a four-shot lead heading into the second day of competition tomorrow.

The tournament is scheduled as a 4-day, 72-hole competition finishing up on Friday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms may find its way to Plymouth in the next three days, so players will need to play aggressively in case the tournament is shortened.

[Jeff Nelson]