Bettis advances four spots in day three at NJCAA D-II Men's Golf National Championship

[May 27, 2016]  After a 2-hour weather delay around 11:00 a.m. at the NJCAA D-II Men's Golf National Championship in Plymouth, IN, Lincoln College's Hunter Bettis began his third round tied for 17th place and playing in the final threesome of the day. Bettis shot an even par 72 on Day One on Tuesday and a 3-over par 75 on Day Two on Wednesday. The tournament is being played at the 7,119-yard Par-72 Black Course at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, IN.

An amped up Bettis started his day striping his drive down the middle of the 366-yard par-4 1st hole. Adrenaline kicked in as Bettis' 90-yard gap wedge sailed over the green leaving a short chip shot back to the front hole location. Bettis handled it perfectly as he trickled it inside of two feet for an easy par. On the 176-yard par-3 2nd hole, Bettis again sailed his tee shot over the flagstick leaving a very difficult downhill chip. This result wasn't what he was looking for as he left his first chip on the back fringe. A second chip ran by the hole 10 feet but a solid stroke gave Bettis his bogey save.

The momentum began to change in Bettis' favor on the difficult 607-yard par-5 4th hole, marked as the most difficult of the Black Course holes. Bettis' 4-iron tee shot found the fairway on this massive dogleg left with water left and right all the way up the fairway. A right-to-left 3-iron set up a 90-yard approach to a severely sloping left to right green with a pin location middle-left which Bettis dropped in 14-feet from the hole. Bettis' sank the putt for his first birdie of the day moving back to even par after 4. The next hole, a 509-yard par-5 saw Bettis reach it in two and then two-putt for back-to-back birdies and sending him into red numbers (-1) for the round. Two consecutive pars on 6 and 7 set up Bettis' best shot of the tournament on the 215-yard par-3 over water where his 6-iron tracked the pin the entire way rolling up 2 feet short of the hole for a tap-in birdie 2. A missed 14-foot birdie putt sat on the edge of the cup of the 9th hole leaving Bettis with his best 9-hole score 34 (2-under-par).

A solid par on the 418-yard par-4 10th hole more than likely gained a half shot or more on the field with a brutal middle-right pin location on the side of a large mound on the green, one of the most difficult hole locations of the tournament so far. Two bogeys ensued on the 416-yard par-4 11th and the mammoth 442-yard par-4 12th hole, both playing dead into the 15-mph winds. The 202-yard par-3 13th hole, also playing into the wind forced Bettis to challenge the flag with a solidly struck 3-iron ending up 14-feet left of the flag. Bettis read the putt perfectly and dropped it in for his 2nd birdie on a par-3 hole and only the 10th birdie of the day for the field of 120 total players. The birdie putt put Bettis back to 1-under par on the day.

Another birdie on the short par-5 15th hole dropped Bettis to 2-under par on his round. He has played the 479-yard par-5 at 4-under par for the first three days of the tournament. Bettis gave a shot back with an unfortunate bogey on the 196-yard par-3 16th hole missing the green right off the tee. An excellent up-and-down off an errant approach shot to the 451-yard par-4 17th hole kept Bettis at 1-under par heading into the closing hole.

A 342-yard drive on the 551-yard par-5 18th hole left Bettis with a difficult decision to make on his next shot. Needing 191 yards to cover the water protecting the green and 209 yards to the pin, Bettis took out his 3-iron and challenged the water. It proved to be the right decision as his approach sailed over the water falling just short of the green. A 60-degree wedge pitch shot ran by the hole leaving a tricky downhill 16-footer for birdie. Bettis' putt was tracking the entire way but turned hard left just before the hole leaving an easy tap-in for par and a 1-under 71 for the day.

Bettis moved up 4 spots to 13th place heading into the final round on Friday. His tee time will be at 12:06 p.m. Bettis finished today's round with only 29 putts. He has 13 birdies and 1 eagle in the 3 days of play. Tyler (TX) Marco Maldonado leads the tournament at 8-under-par after three rounds. The top 8 players will earn First Team All-American status, the next 8 will earn 2nd Team, and the next 8 and ties will earn Honorable Mention status.

[Jeff Nelson]