Golf team shoots 615; keeping third place

The Rustlers men’s golf team shot a total of 615 keeping them in third place this past weekend in Sterling, Colo.

Sophomore, Robbie Harding tied for second place individually with a total score of 145, just two points away from first place. In the first round Harding shot a 75 and a 70 in the second round. Fellow teammate Braxton Schwartzkoph, freshman trailed by just two points; placing him third individually with combined score of 147. Schwartzkoph shot a 74 in the first round and a 73 in the second round.

“Robbie continues to do a great job of putting himself in contention to win a tournament,” Coach Pat Rafferty said. “The maturity and growth he’s made from last season to this has been outstanding and the reason he’s high on the leaderboard week in and week out. It’s just a matter of time until he gets a W.”

“Braxton gets better every week. He too is now putting himself in contention,” Rafferty said. “He’s only going to continue to get better. I love his ability to execute and manage his game over a golf course.”

First place for the men’s team stays with Eastern Wyoming College with a total score of 592; second place went to McCook Community College with a total score of 605 and CWC in third place with a score of 615.

CWC’s top golfer for the women’s team stays with Sarah Schroefel, freshman, who placed second individually with a combined score of 173. On day one Schroefel had a score of 89 and an 84. Also on the women’s team was sophomore Kristen Day, who had a combined score of 175; scoring 85 on day one and 90 on day two. Otero Community College is still in the lead for the women’s team.

“Kristen took a step forward at NJC and showed some signs of her being back on here game from last spring. She’s trying really hard and there’s a lot of good golf ahead for Kristen,” Rafferty said. “Sarah just battles; when she doesn’t have her A game she battles harder. As she improves her skill level coupled with how hard she competes, she’ll have a legitimate chance to play her way to the national tournament.”

“They’re all making progress. I see things and areas in all of their games getting better,” Coach Rafferty said. “Sometimes it just doesn’t show up on the score card but the improvement is there; Ryan Ellis had a really good round of 74 Saturday and Ashley Sams grows in the game after every round. I’m looking forward to seeing how this week goes and if we take another step.”

The team will travel to Lamar Community College Sept. 17-18.