The Alexander City Outlook

CACC finishes 8th after rain cancels last day

Rain washed out the last round of play at the NJCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship on Friday, giving McLennan (Texas) Community College its second straight national title by virtue of its lead through three rounds.

McLennan, now a three-time national champion, shot 3-under-par as a team Thursday to get to 4-under overall, nine shots better than Meridian (Miss.). The Central Alabama Trojans shot 10-over in their final round to finish the event in eighth place at 30-over.

CACC head coach Dave Jennings said his team could not get it going at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail River Course at Hampton Cove in Huntsville.

“I felt like we were ready going in, but for whatever reason, we played like garbage,” Jennings said. “Zach (Primavera) played solid, but he couldn’t get any support.”

Primavera, who shot a pair of 70s in the first two rounds to hold the lead entering Thursday, shot a 73 in the final round to finish in second place. His 3-under total was two strokes behind Meridian’s Brandt Garon, who carded a 68 in the third round.

It was the second straight runner-up finish for Primavera at this tournament.

“He was really disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to finish up (Friday),” Jennings said. “But, he can’t control the weather. He was steady every day.”

Lewis Gruber (72-76-74) finished 27th at 6-over. He was the only other Trojan in the top 50 of the 115-player field.

Chaz Fairbrother (73-82-73, 12-over) was 51st, Nick Ward (76-80-78, 18-over) came in 77th and Barrett Miliam (80-79-80, 23-over) placed 92nd.

“Barrett started each day well, he just began leaking oil through the middle of every round,” Jennings said. “Nick played OK for two rounds. He was way over at one point in the second, but got four birdies to recover. Chaz had an eagle and two straight birdies for a nice last round.

“It was a disappointment for all of us as a group, but it just wasn’t there this week for us.”

Primavera was named a first-team NJCAA All-American, and Gruber earned a PING All-American honor.

Indian Hills (Iowa) was third at 7-over, Brevard (Florida) was fourth at 11-over and Odessa (Texas) and Scottsdale (Ariz.) tied for fifth at 13-over.

CACC shot 291 on Tuesday and was just five shots off the pace, but a 305 put the Trojans 21 strokes back.