MEMPHIS, TN – In another loaded field, the Northwest Mississippi Community College men's golf team is continuing to show that they belong, finishing day one at the Magicians on the Green Invitational, hosted by NCAA Division II LeMoyne-Owen College, in fourth place and, for a period of time, was in second place after the opening 18 holes at the Links at Pine Hill on Monday.
Northwest wrapped up the opening 18 holes at seven-over before faltering slightly down the stretch with a 17-over on their second round, dropping them to 24-over for the tournament, but only four strokes back of NCAA Division I Jackson State University and only 14 strokes back of the host team in second place.
Three Rangers sit in the top-15 at the tournament, led by sophomore Atharv Sharma, who is coming off a top-five finish at the Ranger Men's Invitational just two weeks ago. Sharma posted a one-under opening round and was three-under after his opening six holes, but he only picked up one more birdie the rest of the day on the way to a three-over 73 on his second nine. It was still enough to put him in a tie for ninth in the field and only two-strokes over par on the day.
Close behind is fellow German sophomore Caesar Ingendorf, who also finished with a three-over on his second 18, pairing that with a two-over on his first round of the day for a five-over total after 36-holes and a spot in a tie for 13th. Ingendorf finished the day with an impressive eight birdies, including five on the opening 18 holes, but he was hurt by a five-hole stretch on his first round where he went six-over par. He recovered well from the stretch to play even the rest of the day, capitalizing on the par-fives where he was able to garner three birdies through the combined rounds.
Only one stroke back is Cole Elander, who had a phenomenal first round, going one-over with three birdies. Unfortunately, a pair of doubles would counter a pair of birdies on the second round, and his 75 would move him to six-over on the day. That was still good enough to move him into a tie for 15th on the day.
Andrew Tuccio would round out the scoring team for the Rangers on the first day, finishing with a consistent five-over on the first round and a six-over on his second, only picking up one double bogey and adding three birdies on the way to a spot in the middle of the field in a tie for 22nd.
The Rangers would close out the day with Davis Wilkins bouncing back from a tough first round where he went 18-over with two triple-bogeys and four double-bogeys by going 12-over on the second 18, becoming the only Ranger to improve on their first-round score on day one, along the way, finishing in 41st place with a 30-over after 36 holes.
The final round is set to begin at 9:00 a.m. with a shotgun start Tuesday morning. Northwest will be spread out from the seventh to the 11th holes, with Wilkins being the outlier, beginning the day on the second tee box.
Keep up with the Ranger men's golf team by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following along on Northwest social media accounts.
