Lefèvre Sits Second Overall, T-Birds are Fifth After Round 1
The NMJC golf team shot a 2-under par 286 to put them in a tie for fifth place after the first round of the NJCAA DI Men's Golf Championship. Indian Hills leads at Sand Creek Station after firing an opening round 10-under 278. Eastern Florida (-7), Western Texas (-6), McLennan (-5), and Midland (-2) fill out the top of the leaderboard in Newton, Kan.
The Thunderbirds were carried by the reigning WJCAC Player of the Year Matthis Lefèvre. The Frenchman is currently in a tie for second individually after 18 holes. The sophomore shot a 4-under par 68 in round one and is one shot back of Wallace State's Keith Hunter.
Lefèvre had birdies on holes two and four and was 2-under through six before dropping a shot on the seventh. Lefèvre had a bounce-back birdie on the eighth hole but then proceeded to give it right back with a bogey on the ninth hole.
Back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes pushed Lefèvre up to 3-under par. His final birdie of the day came on the par-4 15th hole. Lefèvre did have some trouble on 18 after a wayward drive but he was able to hack his second shot near the green and then execute a saucy chip to a foot for a tap-in par to finish at 4-under.
Will Green shot a 1-under par 71 and is in a tie for 22nd place in his NJCAA championship debut. The Englishman bogeyed the par-5 second hole and after six consecutive pars he closed out his front nine with a birdie to shoot an even-par 36.
Green got hot on the back nine carding two straight birdies on 11 and 12. Green dropped a shot on 14 to fall to 1-under for the day. The freshman finished his closing four holes with pars to shoot 71.
Travis Robbie finished his round with a rather colorful scorecard. Robbie got off on the wrong foot to begin his round when he bogeyed the first and third hole. The Aussie got it back to level with back-to-back birds on holes four and five. A bogey on eight and a par on nine had him at 1-over par through nine.
Robbie went birdie-par-bogey-par-bogey-par over his first six holes on the back, which had him a 2-over with three holes to play. The freshman closed his first round with a birdie on 16, a par on 17, and a birdie on 18 to shoot an even-par 72.
Sophomore Tim Chan began his round with 12 straight pars. Bogeys on 12 and 13 brought him to 2-over par with five holes to play. Chan couldn't get anything going around the green and with a bogey on the closing hole he settled for a 3-over par 75.
Jono Boediman had a similar round to Chan. The Australian began the day with six pars before dropping a shot on the 215 yard par-3 seventh hole. The freshman made the turn at 1-over. An unfortunate triple on 10 crushed his momentum. Bogeys on 15 and 17 brought Boediman to 6-over par for an opening-round of 78.
NMJC golf head coach Jay Rees mentioned that the T-Birds had to navigate some early challenges during their opening round.
"It was a cold misty morning weather wise for us today and as the day moved on it began to warm up just as we were finishing our first round," Rees said. "So the teams that had later tee times probably got the best of the weather, which is why you saw some good scores later on in the day."
Regardless of the weather Rees was pleased with how the team performed following the conclusion of round one.
"I thought anything under par would be a positive for us," Rees said. "What stood out to me today was Tim continued to make par and just wasn't able to make some putts. He rarely ever goes through a round without making birdies, so I expect him to be ready to go tomorrow."
Lefèvre, who has been the Thunderbirds bell cow all year, sets the tone for this team according to Rees.
"Matthis is in a really good place mentally right now. I expect him to shoot a great round tomorrow and sit atop the leaderboard for us," Rees said. "If Matthis continues to play well that will only boost our team's confidence as we approach the money day."
The goal remains the same for Rees.
"Our goal tomorrow is to be the low round of the day and see where we stand after 36 holes," Rees said. "It was a positive for us to be under par, could we have gotten more out of it today, yes, but we are still right in the thick of it."
The Thunderbirds tee off tomorrow in the second round of NJCAA DI Men's Golf Championship at 1:20 p.m. CDT.
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