Rain dampens T-Bird tourney play
Matt Schaeffer
“It rained on us all day,” said Mesa men’s golf coach John Guerrero.Rain, of course, is never welcome during play.
The Thunderbirds took on the rest of the ACCAC (Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) in the Chandler-Gilbert Invitational at Toka Sticks Golf Course on March 21 and 22.
The cold rain gave most players some trouble in round one as only three of them turned in sub-par rounds for the day.
Mesa started day one in the middle of the rain and struggled as a result. The Thunderbirds finished in sixth place with a team score of 306 but were fortunate enough to be only ten strokes back of South Mountain, which was in first place, and five back of second.
A sunnier and slightly breezy second round allowed all players the opportunity to play better as a team and make their moves to try for the top spot.
Kevin Witte led off the second round for Mesa and seemed to be on top of his game, finishing with a two below par score of 70, an 11 stroke improvement from the day before.
Thunderbirds’ Grant Dean, who followed Witte’s group, was feeling it on day two as well. Dean’s 66 tied with Scottsdale’s Juan Fernandez, who had a tournament best 141 total, for the best round of the tournament.
Andrew Jerman and Eddie DeLashmutt also improved in the second round, finishing the day with a 74 and 73, respectively.
The Mahoney Twins, Ryan and Kyle, seemed to like the rain more as they both shot a little poorer on day two.
Guerrero had his guys playing well enough on day two to jump up and finish with a tie with Scottsdale for the second place behind South Mountain. Mesa finished the tournament with a + 13.589.
The good weather showed favor for play in general as there were 13 rounds below par and the average score went down just over four strokes per person.
Things are going well for Guerrero’s team. The Thunderbirds have won once and placed second three times this spring. The team’s next tournament is on April 4 and 5 when they will be competing in the Scottsdale CC Invitational in Sun City.
