The Blinn College men’s and women’s golf teams played 36 holes of outstanding golf on Monday and Tuesday at the University of Houston-Victoria Fall Invitational in Victoria, Texas.
The event, which was played at The Club at Colony Creek on Monday and Riverside Golf Club on Tuesday, was practically dominated by the Buccaneers, who claimed the women’s crown in a five-team competition, and placed their men’s B and A teams second and third, respectively, in the eight-team men’s tournament.
The Bucs’ triumph in the women’s team standings gave them back-to-back team wins. Blinn captured the Blinn Fall Invitational title Oct. 15.
The Blinn women earned first place by 18 strokes, finishing 31-over par to outlast Our Lady of the Lake University. Additionally, three Bucs earned the top two individual spots among 30 golfers.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Rattanavarin Tassaneetipagorn tees off during the University of Houston-Victoria Fall Invitational)
Sophomore Rattanavarin “Pai” Tassaneetipagorn earned her second win of the fall and second consecutive victory after finishing 2-over par. She was followed by freshman sisters Abiha and Daniah Syed, who were the runners-up at 8-over. Also in the top 10 for the Bucs was freshman Abigail O’Brien who checked in at 13-over for an eighth-place tie.
“I’m so proud of the ladies,” said Bucs assistant coach Gary Belt, who oversees the women’s squad. “They are working hard to produce quality scores. Golf is hard to predict and perform, so capturing two titles in consecutive weeks is special.”
The Blinn women will conclude their fall schedule at the two-day Paul Chavez Invitational hosted by Odessa College on Thursday, Oct. 31, in Odessa, Texas.
Blinn’s men’s teams also played brilliantly in Victoria.
Blinn’s B squad of freshmen Trevor Parnell, Sir Jones, Jaxon Daniele, and Cort Garner, along with sophomore Ethan Gregory, combined for a 3-under par finish to place second behind tournament champion UH-Victoria (14-under).
The Blinn A team finished 1-over par.
Parnell was the tournament’s individual runner-up thanks to an impressive 4-under showing. UH-Victoria sophomore Joshua Van Der Wath earned the crown with a sparkling 12-under outing.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Trevor Parnell stares down a putt during the University of Houston-Victoria Fall Invitational)
Sophomore Volker Henkel, who played for Blinn’s A team, finished at 3-under for third place, while Daniel and Bucs sophomore Preston DeSerrano (A team) tied for fifth at 2-under. Jones cracked the top 10 thanks after shooting even to place eighth. Freshman Cody Peters (A team) shot 2-over for 12th place.
A total of 47 golfers competed in the tournament.
“I thought we played solid golf in Victoria, and placing five guys in the top eight is just outstanding,” Blinn head coach David Johnson said. “With so much good depth on our team, it’s hard to pick a top five for the A team each week. It’s definitely a great problem to have. We are finished for the fall now, and after having a lot of great things happen for our guys throughout the season we’re going to keep grinding and building ahead of the spring.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 national championships since 1987.
