Following a trying season that included the illness of the Chaps long-time coach Delnor Poss, a constant reshuffling of the tournament line-up and dropping to their lowest ranking in recent history, the Chap golf team completed their improbable season with a national championship. Coach Poss’ line-up featured four freshmen (Kevin Carrigan, Nathan Sheen, Brady Shivers and Wynand Snyman) and one sophomore (Nils Bjorling) who were poised to shake-up the tournament field.
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NJCAA 2006 Golf Champions
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Playing at the Links at Sierra Blanca in Ruidoso, NM the Chaps the tournament field included fourteen of the top fifteen teams in the final NJCAA Division I Golf poll, including #1 ranked Central Alabama Community College and two-time defending champion Odessa College. Going into the competition, Midland College was ranked #6 yet highly regarded in junior college golf circles.
The Chaps, led by Shivers 67 (-5), opened the tournament with a team total 273 good for third place and a tie with Indian Hills CC, IA and Central Alabama CC, followed Dixie State College, UT, who led in the first round with a team total of 270, and Lon Morris College, TX who recorded an opening round 271.
In the second round the Chaps again received strong play from Shivers along with sophomore Bjorling, both recording 67’s for the round. Shivers two-round total of 134 placed him in a tie for 7th and was the only Chap player in the top 10. The Chaps improved their team score in the second round to 270, but remained in third place in the tournament behind Indian Hills and Dixie State.
Going into round three the Chaps were an eager and confident team. The MC unit scorched the links course with a blistering team total of 263, the lowest round of the championship tournament, and surged into first place. Midland College’s three round score of 806 placed it 10 strokes ahead of Brevard CC, FL (816) and 12 shots ahead of Odessa College (818). Due to the tremendous third round, Midland College also had several players in contention for medalist honors. Kevin Carrigan’s three round total of 202 placed him in 6th slightly ahead of Wynand Snyman’s 203 (7th place) and Nathan Sheen who shot 204 in the first three rounds (T-8th).
The final round featured the most difficult pin placement in the tournament along with much warmer weather. As the sports cliché goes, the tournament was the Chaps to lose. Holding a ten-stroke lead going into the final day was not much of a deterrent for the contending teams. As fate would have it, the Chaps only relinquished three strokes in the final 18-holes to secure the national championship, the third in MC men’s golf history (1992 & 1995). The Chaps also added three names to its list of NJCAA All-America players with Bjorling and Carrigan being named to the All-NJCAA first team and Wynand Snyman being named to the second team.
For what could be regarded as his most challenging year, Coach Delnor Poss was named NJCAA Division I Golf Coach of the Year.
