The Blinn College men’s and women’s golf teams competed at the two-day Waco River Classic hosted by McLennan Community College on Monday and Tuesday in Waco, Texas.
The Buccaneer women’s team earned a third-place finish in the 10-team tournament, while the men’s squad claimed seventh out of 15 teams.
Blinn’s women’s team continued its strong start to the fall season with another top-three finish. The Bucs opened their year with a runner-up performance at the Texas Intercollegiate Invitational on Sept. 10. Blinn finished 49-over collectively in Waco, with sophomore claiming eighth place at 7-over.
Four of the five Bucs competing for Blinn placed in the top 25 (63 total golfers).
Freshman sisters Daniah and Abiha Syed shot 11- and 13-over respectively to take 14th and 17th place, while freshman Abigail O’Brien was 25th at 18-over.
Odessa College claimed the team title at 28-over.
“It was tough at times to score, and collectively we didn’t strike the ball consistently,” Bucs assistant coach Gary Belt said. “We made some mistakes on the back nine that cost us strokes in the first and second round. Overall, it wasn’t a bad outing. I think the ladies would like to do it again because they know they didn’t perform as well as they know they can, but finishing third behind Odessa and New Mexico Junior College is nothing to be ashamed of.”
(Pictured: Blinn golfers Rattanavarin Tassaneetipagorn and Preston DeSerrano)
On the men’s side, Blinn’s top performance went to sophomore Preston DeSerrano, who shot 1-under par to finish seventh individually.
In the field of 99 golfers, sophomores Volker Henkel (5-over for 31st place) and Gabe Herbst (9-over for a 40th-place tie), along with freshman Trevor Parnell (also 9-over for a 40th-place tie) landed in the top half of the leaderboard.
“We have a young and inexperienced team, but I thought we competed extremely well considering we’re still trying to figure some things out as a club,” Blinn head coach David Johnson said. “This tournament featured some of the top teams in the NJCAA, as well as golfers from NCAA Division I programs, so it was good to test ourselves against a great golf course and see how we stacked up against quality competition.”
Up next for the Blinn men’s and women’s teams is the two-day Jacksonville Invitational beginning Monday, Sept. 23 in Jacksonville, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 national championships since 1987.
