Defending National Champions Set to Begin 2024-25 Season
The NMJC men's golf team begins their season Saturday, Sept. 7 at 10:20 a.m. CDT in Andrews, Texas at the Andrews Golf Course.
The defending national champions will be competing at the Andrews Collegiate Amateur under the direction of first-year men's head golf coach Gil Williams.
Williams arrived full-time in Hobbs, NM July 1st from Ranger College where he was the head men's and women's golf coach the past three seasons for the Rangers. Williams has been able to get to know the squad in his first few months as they begin their journey to repeat as national champions.
"The guys have been energetic and practice has been very competitive so far," Coach Williams said. "Exactly what you hope for at this point in the year."
The T-Birds will have one of the more experienced teams in the NJCAA this year as the Thunderbirds bring back three key contributors from the 2024 NJCAA DI Men's Golf National Championship winning team.
The trio is led by Henry Drake who shot a tournament-low 65 in the final round of the national championship. The second sophomore returner is Elias Pettersson who secured two tournament wins during the spring season. The final returner is Andrew Park. The Australian was the fifth man on Day 1 of the NJCAA DI Men's Golf Championship.
The three-headed monsters lead a team that is ranked No. 3 by the 2024-25 Preseason Bushnell/Golfweek NJCAA DI Coaches Poll. Although NMJC is ranked No. 3 in the poll the T-Birds have the most first place votes (3) out of any school in the poll.
"Experience is a huge factor for us," Coach Williams said. "Having three guys who have played in DI tournaments, the district championship, and been a part of the national championship team will be a huge benefit for all our freshmen to learn from."
The tournament in Andrews will be a 5-count-4 format. The remaining two spots on the team score are taken up by two freshmen, Nick Friedrichsen of Bixby, Okla. and Jake Yrene of Albuquerque, NM.
"Nick and Jake have been everything you could ask for," Williams said. "They've been calm and confident in qualifying and that has led to some good scores. Getting an early shot at some tournament rounds will be huge for their development."
The field is going to be stout at the Andrews Collegiate Amateur. The teams consist of No. 1 Odessa, No. 2 Midland, No. 3 NMJC, No. 6 McLennan, No. 8 Ranger, and No. 9 Western Texas. Having six top-10 teams in the first tournament of the year is not a bad way to test the resolve of a new squad.
"This tournament is always a great test not only because of the talent of the field but also because of the unique format, being a College/AM," Williams said. "It gives you a lot of opportunities to become distracted as a player. Those obstacles paired with four of the Top-10 finishers at nationals plus another that was Top-10 in the preseason poll will give us some great insight into where we are as a team and where we need to improve."
The T-Birds do have some golfers waiting in the ranks for their opportunity as well. Depth is key to having a consistent golf team. Freshmen Oliver Ruutu, Paul Noel, Jan Porchet, PJ Herron, and Alfie Mellor fill out the rest of the remaining roster for NMJC.
"With this being our first tournament it's hard to say where we stand," Williams said. "We've looked strong in qualifying with some young guys that could give us good depth. But I don't want to make any concrete judgments until we get seven or eight guys some tournament rounds."
The T-Birds will start the 2024-25 season with tee times beginning at 10:20 a.m. CDT at Andrews Golf Club in Andrews, Texas. The lineup is as follows No. 1 Henry Drake, No. 2 Elias Pettersson, No. 3 Nick Friedrichsen, No. 4 Andrew Park, and No. 5 Jake Yrene.