Bettis tees off Hole #1 on Day Two of the 2016 NJCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championships.

Bettis 2-under par in the final 4-hole stretch on Day Two

[May 26, 2016]  Day 2 is in the books at the 2016 D-II Men's Golf Junior College National Championship at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, IN. Conditions were much more difficult than Day One with winds at 12-15mph and greens running firm and fast, especially for the afternoon wave of tee times. Temperatures reached the mid-80's making it the warmest day of competition to date. Lincoln College freshman Hunter Bettis (Bluffs, IL) hung tough and grinded through his 5+ hour afternoon round with a 3-over par 75 moving his 2-day total to 147 (3-over par) and remaining in the top-20 at T-17.

Hitting only 8 of 18 greens in regulation on the day made it very difficult to hold it together and putting extra importance on the short game. Bettis was up to the challenge most of the day getting up-and-down multiple times including a chip-in birdie from the back of the green on the par-4 9th hole.

Starting the day with two straight pars, Bettis birdied the 425-yard par-4 3rd hole to go 1-under par. Trouble would ensue however and an errant tee shot found the water hazard on the 607-yard par-5 dog-leg 4th hole leading to a double-bogey seven. More trouble saw Bettis zig-zagging his way up the 509-yard par-5 5th hole leading to a bogey six. On the 433-yard par-4 6th hole, Bettis struck a solid drive down the left side but unfortunately found its way into the fairway bunker. Leaving a one-foot-in, one-foot-out stance, Bettis pulled his approach to the shortside left of the green where he couldn't get up-and-down giving him his second bogey in a row and a 3-over par score through six. Bettis was able to right the ship with two straight pars including an outstanding up-and-down on the 215-yard par-3 8th hole. Bettis chipped in for birdie on the 9th to post a 2-over-par 28 heading into the inward nine.

A bogey five on the 418-yard par-4 10th hole was not what Bettis was looking for to begin the backside. Two straight pars on 11 and 12 was followed by another bogey 4 on the 202-yard par-3 13th hole. Bettis needed to hole a 16-foot putt to save bogey, which he did. The 479-yard par-5 15th hole proved to be a huge momentum shift for Bettis as a 339-yard drive split the middle of the fairway leaving a 140-yard nine-iron into the front right hole location. The smooth 9-iron dropped inside 12 feet leading to an eagle-3 moving Bettis back to 3-over-par on the day.

A 3-putt bogey followed on the difficult 196-yard par-3 16th hole where a 20-foot downhill birdie putt buzzed past the cup 12 feet. A solidly struck drive on the 451-yard par-4 17th hole drifted right but found an opening in the trees where Bettis slid a gap wedge just over the flagstick leaving a tricky downhill 12-footer for birdie. After having trouble setting his ball back onto the green where his marker was due to the severe downslope, Bettis calmly rolled it in to get back to 3-over-par on the round. A solid par-5 score on the 551-yard difficult finishing hole gave Bettis a 2nd-round score of 75 (3-over-par) on the 7,119-yard par-72 Black Course.

Head coach Jeff Nelson said of Bettis' effort, "I was extremely proud of how Hunter was able to stay patient on a very difficult day to score the ball. His playing partners, who he played with yesterday too, also struggled and none of them were able to maintain any momentum throughout the round. I had a feeling Hunter would be able to get a few shots back on the final 4 holes as he began to strike the ball better, which he did going 2-under par in the final 4-hole stretch. This gives him some nice momentum heading into Thursday's round."

[Jeff Nelson]