Scottsboro, Al – The NJCAA National Championship was held from May 19 -22, 2009 at the Goosepond Colony Golf Course in Scottsboro, Alabama. The week was full of ups and downs for the Cougars as they looked to defend their #1 ranking entering the tournament and riding a win streak of 5 tournaments in a row with their most recent coming at the NJCAA Region I Championship where they lapped the field winning by 32 shots.
Round 1 of the national championship found the Cougars two strokes off the pace with a round of 292, 2-shots behind Darton College and 1-shot behind Grand Rapids CC. Sophomore Scott Brace and Rob Murray lead the way for the Cougars with rounds of even par 72, followed by Sophomore Chace Nathe 73, Freshman Trent Ka’ahanui fired a 75, and Sophomore Adam Winwood shot 77.
Round 2 was moving day for the Cougars as they battled extremely windy conditions and posted a tournament low score of 5-under 283 which moved them into sole possession of first place at 575. John A. Logan college shot a 4-under round of 284 to move into 2nd place 5 shots back of SMCC at 580, Darton College in 3rd place at 581, with Tyler College, the defending National Champions in 4th place at 585. The Cougars charge was lead by Sophomore Adam Winwood who came back from his 77 in the opening round to set the course record at Goosepond Colony with an 8-under round of 64, Scott Brace shot 1-under 71, Chace Nathe fired a 1-over 73, and Rob Murray and Trent Ka’ahanui shot 75.
Round 3 the SMCC Cougars held of a charge from Darton College by firing a round of 5-over 293, giving the Cougars a 1-shot lead going into the final round of the tournament. Darton College shot the low round of the day at even par 288 leaving them in 2nd place, with John A. Logan 7 shots back of SMCC in 3rd place. The Cougars had another solid round from Scott Brace and Rob Murray who both shot even par 72, Adam Winwood shot 2-over 74, and Trent Ka’ahanui and Chace Nathe posted rounds of 75.
The final round of the National Championship was a round the Cougars won’t soon forget as they fell from leading the tournament to a disappointing 3rd place finish after the Cougars were plagued by putting woes with the team averaging 37 putts the final day giving them at 17-over par round of 305 which allowed a hot John A. Logan College to sneak into the National Championship with a 2-under round of 286, followed by Darton College who took the National Runner-up position with a round of 295. Sophomore Scott Brace finished with a 2-over par round of 74 to give him 2nd team All-American Honors in 10th place, Sophomore Adam Winwood shot 4-over 76 giving him Honorable Mention Honors in a tie for 12th place, Sophomore Rob Murray shot 5-over 77 giving him a 22nd place finish, Freshman Trent Ka’ahanui shot 6-over 78 giving him a tie for 39th place, and Sophomore Chace Nathe shot 7-over 79 leaving him in a tie for 29th place.
The 3rd place finish is a disappointment for the Cougars after leading the tournament in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, however, the Cougars should keep their heads high as the 2008-2009 season will go down as one of the most dominate seasons in South Mountain Community College golf history as the team won 8 out of there 13 tournaments, with 5 of those tournaments being double digit wins, having individual medalists in 5 of those tournaments, winning the first Conference Championship in school history with victories in 5 out of the 6 conference tournaments, winning the Region Championship by 32-shots for the 7th region championship in the past 9 years, 3 All-Conference Players, 4 All-Region Players, 1 All-American, 1 Honorable Mention All-American, and 4 Academic All-Americans.