By Jim Richards
No.2--With a Bullet!
The SMCC men’s golf team doesn’t appear to have let up a bit despite the losses of several players off last year’s NJCAA Division II national runner-up squad and its head coach. First-year coach Jake Harrington has the Cougars ranked second in the nation (golfstat.com/ JUCO-Division II) with an exciting ACCAC race under way and another expected in 2009 with several elite high school golfers already committed. “We’re just building every year,” said Harrington, a former Cougar golfer. “We trying to stay in the top five in the nation every year.”
In four ACCAC tournaments thus far, the Cougars have a first place finish, a second and two thirds. The top feather in their caps thus far was the team victory at the Paradise Valley CC tournament March 4 at the Golf Club of Estrella, where the Cougars toppled even No.1-ranked (Division I) Scottsdale CC by five strokes behind Nic Banfield’s two-round score of 148 with teammates Cody Patterson (150) and Scott Brace (151) not far behind.
“The kids are extremely talented--it’s just a matter of putting it all together,” Harrington said. “PVCC was the only one where we all clicked at the same time. It’s just a matter of getting the guys to click at the same time, together.” While the Cougars are good enough to compare themselves with SCC’s elite program, the real regular-season race will be at the loaded ACCAC Division II where there are three teams in the top-10 of the golfstat.com rankings.
The Cougars have defeated No.6-ranked Mesa CC and No.10 Chandler-Gilbert in two of four tournaments. Chandler-Gilbert, however, tied Scottsdale with a team score 578 for first in last week’s Scottsdale CC tournament at the HillCrest Golf Club. The Cougars placed third eight strokes back.
A week earlier at the SMCC tournament at the Palm Valley Golf Club, the Cougars again placed third behind winning Mesa CC (576) and Scottsdale CC (583). SMCC’s third-place score of (585) was two strokes better than Chandler-Gilbert.
“We’ve been mixing up the rotations the last three tournaments,” Harrington said. “I’m just trying to find those core five guys that will take it to the next level. We’ve got some guys that are working on their swings and they’ll be coming around shortly.”
Harrington credits Banfield, a returning 1st Team All-Region member off last year’s national runner-up, and freshmen Brace, of Suffolk, United Kingdom, and Chace Nathe out of Grand Junction, Colorado as his best three players thus far. “Those three are standing out the most,” Harrington said. “They’ve been consistent.” Harrington has commitments from Arizona’s 2007 Class 4A Division I state champion Travis Graves of Tucson Canyon del Oro, and standouts Trent Kaahanui of Tempe McClintock, Branden Barron of Colorado and Paul Wells Jr. of Wickenburg for next season. “We’re going to be just as strong next year as we are this year if not stronger,” Harrington said.
The Cougars last captured a national title in 2004 under the guidance of Travis Brown at the Palm Valley Golf Club, where this season’s NJCAA Div.II Men’s Golf Championship will be held. Harrington is confident the early strong showing will improve and extend to Palm Valley.
“The thing that I enjoy the most about this team is that we’re putting ourselves in a position to win every tournament,” Harrington said. “What I’m asking them is to get themselves close enough or to give us a lead in the first round to when we go to regionals or nationals we’ll be in that position enough times in essence to learn how to finish a tournament. ”Only Tyler (Tx.) Junior College is ahead of South in the Div.II rankings.