The Buccaneers welcomed seven teams and more than 65 players to Brenham for the one-day competition.
In its first home tournament since Blinn’s golf programs began in 2019, the 14th-ranked Buccaneer men finished fourth out of six teams across 36 holes (598 total), while the women’s squad – also ranked 14th nationally – placed third (363) out of three teams over 18 holes.
The McLennan Community College men and Tyler Junior College women captured their respective team titles.
Holly Patterson shined for the Blinn women, tying for second overall with an 8-over par performance. Patterson said better play in the middle holes helped push her up the leaderboard. Patterson and Tyler’s Lucy Holbrough finished just two strokes behind Tyler’s Taylor-Rose Hubbard for the crown.
(Pictured: Blinn College’s Holly Patterson)
“I’m really happy that I placed second,” Patterson said. “My second shots and my shots right by the pin helped me score a lot of birdies, and that’s what basically kept everything together for me today.”
During the awards presentation, Patterson also was named to the Region XIV all-region team.
Also placing in the top 10 for the Buccaneer women was Alexis Graham, who shot 18-over to finish in a three-way tie.
The Blinn women continue their season with the NJCAA South District Championship Sunday through Tuesday, April 10-12, in Cullman, Ala.
The Blinn men’s best outings of the day came from Van Miller and Ty Thomas, who tied for third after shooting par (72). Fellow Buccaneer Cameron Hubbard also finished near the top at 2-over par for a fifth-place showing.
Liam Gobin of McLennan placed first after shooting 6-under.
(Pictured: Blinn College’s Van Miller)
Miller said the Buccaneers had higher hopes for their first home tournament, but added that the meet still served as a good warm-up ahead of next week’s NJCAA Southwest Championship (April 10-12) in Weatherford, Texas.
“Overall, this was a good day … a lot of our guys battled back and finished well,” Miller said. “I think we’re ready to roll for district play. I think we’re prepared – we’ve been prepared for a long time – and we’re ready to go compete at the highest level.”
David Johnson, who has coached the Buccaneer men and women since the inception of the programs, said both teams have plenty to build on ahead of district play.
“Everybody got to give it their best shot here, which was good, and now they all have an opportunity to work on things before we get into district play,” Johnson said. “This week we’ll see what happens in practice and move on strong into the playoffs.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
