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 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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