Co-Lin’s Navarro shines at National Tournament
JOPLIN, Missouri – Co-Lin freshman Alex Navarro made the most of his experience at the NJCAA Division II National Golf Championship. Navarro, a Valencia, Spain native, fired a final round 73 to finish the four-day tournament at 296 (74-71-78-73) tied for 11th place. He was named NJCAA Second Team All-American and to the National All-Tournament Team.
"We were excited to have three golfers to qualify for the national tournament," said Co-Lin head coach Allen Kent. "It was a difficult course and tough conditions with the wind howling all week. Navid (Mousavi) and Tanner (Harrison) had some good stretches, but a bad hole or two can jump up and bite you. Alex had a few bad holes, but he was resilient about coming back with some birdies to get some strokes back. Alex did a really good job of flighting the ball down and not letting the wind be as much of a factor. He also putted well all week."
Co-Lin's Harrison and Mousavi completed three rounds firing fired 240 (78-83-79) and 242 (82-79-80) respectively and failed to make the cut for the final round.
"With our league expanding to 11 teams next year, we'll be able to send three teams to Nationals, so hopefully we will be in the mix for that. It was a big learning experience for Alex and Navid, that I'm sure will help us moving forward," said Kent.
Cecil Belisle of South Mountain took the individual title with a 288 (71-71-72-74). Mississippi's top finisher was Tate Dickerson of Northeast Mississippi's Tate Dickerson who fired 295 (75-71-75-74) and tied for seventh.
In team action, Mississippi Gulf Coast finished tied with Tyler Junior College (TX) for second place at 1202, 19 strokes behind national champion South Mountain Community College (AZ). Meridian finished tied for seventh at 1218 followed by Northeast Mississippi in ninth place at 1228.