DRAGONS EXTEND NJCAA LEAD TO 16 STROKES THROUGH 2 ROUNDS

Charlie Crockett fist pumps after sinking a birdie putt on No. 15 to help the Blue Dragon men's golf team extend its lead in the NJCAA Division I National Championships in Lubbock, Texas. (Steve Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

May 11, 2021

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

LUBBOCK, Texas – Tying a program national tournament scoring record for the second-straight day, the Hutchinson Community College men's golf team extended its NJCAA Men's Division I National Championship lead to 16 strokes on Tuesday.

The Blue Dragons shot a second-straight team round of 8-under par 280 at The Rawls Course and are at 16-under 560 at the halfway mark of the 2021 championship.

Hutchinson leads Odessa by 16 strokes, Midland by 17 strokes and Western Texas by 18 strokes through 36 holes. Hutchinson entered the day leading the Championship by three shots. Odessa shot a 5-over 293 in the second round. Midland had a 294 and Western Texas had a 290 on Tuesday.

The key stat for Hutchinson through 36 holes is that the Blue Dragons are dominating the Par-5 holes. Hutchinson is -21 on the par 5s, while Midland is -7, Western Texas is -6 and Odessa is -4 on those same holes.

Hutchinson counted the scores of Harry Crockett (68), Charlie Crockett (70), Ben Partridge (71) and Cameron Rios-Ceballos (71) in the second round. Trey McCrae shot a 2-over 74 on Tuesday.

Harry Crockett and Partridge are the top two individual golfers through 36 holes. Rios-Ceballos is also I the Top 10 and all five Hutchinson players are no worse than a 22nd-place tie.

Harry Crockett leads the championship at the mid-point with a 7-under 137. He shot 69 on Monday. Crockett overcame a double-bogey on No. 12 with an eagle on No. 9 and five birdies, including a 35-footer for birdie on No. 13.

Partridge had a slow start on Tuesday with a double bogey on the first hole. He was 3-over through seven holes. Partridge battled back with four birdies over the final 11 holes, including two key two-putts for par on Nos. 12 and 13. Partridge is one stroke behind Harry Crockett at 6-under 138.

Rios-Ceballos turned in another strong round for the Dragons on Tuesday. After an opening-round 72, which consisted of 10-straight pars to opening the round, Rios-Ceballos shot a 1-under 71 in the second round. Rios-Ceballos countered a double bogey on No. 1 with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2 and 3. From that point, Rios-Ceballos is had five birdies, four bogeys and seven pars. Rios-Ceballos is in a five-way tie for seventh at 1-under 143.

Charlie Crockett bounced back for a six-stroke improvement from his opening round with a 2-under 70 on Tuesday. He had seven birdies in his round, none bigger than 25-foot birdie putt on No. 15.

McCrae shot a 2-over 74 on Tuesday. Both Charlie Crockett and McCrae are tied for 22nd at 2-over 146.

The Blue Dragons are once again slated to be paired with Odessa and Midland and will tee off for Wednesday's third round from 1:20 to 2 p.m.