Bettis earns Honorable Mention in NJCAA National Golf Tournament

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[May 31, 2016]  The final round of the 72-hole NJCAA D-II Men's Golf National Tournament was played on Friday with 19 five-man teams and 25 individuals vying for the championship. Tyler (TX) Junior College's Marco Maldonado held a two-shot lead at 8-under-par heading into the final round but faltered on the 18th green dropping a shot and giving up the lead and the championship. South Mountain's (AZ) Justin Warren and Kirkwood's (MO) Carson Whittington finished the tournament at 6-under-par shooting a blistering 68 and 66 respectively on the final round.

Lincoln College's Hunter Bettis entered Friday in solo 13th place at 2-over-par for the tournament. Bettis shot an even par 72 on Day 1, 3-over-par 75 on Day 2, and a 1-under par 71 on Day 3.

Day 4 didn't start the way Bettis anticipated the first seven holes. After an opening par on the 366-yard par-4, Bettis hung a 6-iron out to the right on the 176-yard par-3 finding the right rough then bouncing off the cart path and tumbling into the water hazard. An early bad break led to a double-bogey five. A bounce-back par on the 3rd hole set up the next challenge, the 607-yard par-5 dogleg left with trouble everywhere. After a solid 4-iron tee shot to the middle, and a 5-wood layup to 155 yards, another errant approach sailed over the green into the deep fescue grasses. Luckily, the ball was found, and Bettis incredibly hacked a wedge out to the fringe giving him a chance to save par. A slick downhill right-to-left breaker slid by the cup leading to a bogey and moving Bettis to 3-over-par after four holes.

It seemed to not be Bettis' day after a 3-iron approach to the 509-yard par-5 5th hole struck a tree and ricocheted 35 yards straight right and over the white stakes; out-of-bounds. A re-drop shot from the same spot found the front right bunker. Bettis pitched it out to about 35 feet and ran it in for a great bogey save. Bettis moved to 4-over-par after five holes. Another bogey on the 378-yard, sharp dogleg left, par-4 7th hole dropped Bettis to 5-over-par on the day.

Things began to turn for the better on the next hole, however. A well-struck 5-iron into the 215-yard par-3 found its way inside of 15 feet. Bettis knocked it in for his first birdie of the day. Bettis finished his front nine with a par carding a 4-over-par 40 heading into the back side.
The 418-yard par-4 10th hole was no challenge for Bettis as he walked away with par on the most undulating and difficult green at Swan Lake Resort. On the 416-yard par-4 11th, Bettis hit his best shot of the tournament on his approach. Bettis hit a perfect gap wedge flying in right-to-left and just behind the hole. The ball spun backward and left and singed the cup leaving Bettis a 4-foot birdie putt, which he drained, dropping him to 3-over-par on his round.

An unfortunate bogey 5 ensued on the 454-yard par-4 giving the shot he had just earned back to the field.

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Bettis continued to grind out his round over the final six holes but couldn't muster another birdie and finished his first National Championship tournament with six straight pars and a par-36 on the back side giving him a 4-over-par final round 76.



Bettis' 72-hole total of 294 (+6) was good enough for a T-22 finish earning Bettis All-American Honorable Mention status.

Head coach Jeff Nelson said of Bettis' round and tournament, "Obviously the final round wasn't what Hunter was wanting, but I'm so proud of how he hung in there the entire day and never, ever gave up! That shows what type of individual and competitor Hunter is. Hunter is not afraid to go at the pins while he plays and is an outstanding putter. After having at least five birdies in his previous three rounds, he just couldn't get anything going in his final round and could only muster two birdies. A couple of bad breaks didn't help him either, but that's golf. Although he was a little down on himself in the early going, he still took his time and went through his routine and tried to battle back. I thought he saved his round rather well given that he just couldn't get much momentum going. I'm so proud of Hunter and hope he continues to work on his game over the summer and can earn his way back to the National Tournament in 2017. Our goal coming into this year's tournament was a top-25 finish, which is what he accomplished. Next year, I think his goal should be a National Champion!! His game is good enough to do it!"

[Jeff Nelson]

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