NIC GOLF/NWAC Championships: McCartain wins, Cardinal men five-peat
Courtesy NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE The North Idaho College men's golf team won their fifth straight Northwest Athletic Conference championship Monday in Yakima, Wash. From left are head coach Russell Grove, Caden Gambini, Spence Matson, Jamen parsons, Josh McCartain, Hardy Johnson, Jarett Giles, NIC trainer Randy Boswell and NIC wrestling coach Derrick Booth.
Courtesy NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE The North Idaho College women's golf team finished second at the Northwest Athletic Conference championships Monday in Yakima, Wash. From left are NIC wrestling coach Derrick Booth, NIC trainer Randy Boswell, Lauryn Bulger, Marissa McCallum, Cassandra Lee, Navy Wood, Laila Jalil, Sofia Lippiello and NIC head coach Russell Grove.
Courtesy NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE North Idaho College freshman Josh McCartain hits off the first tee Monday at the Northwest Athletic Conference golf championships at Apple Tree Golf Course in Yakima. McCartain was the men's individual champion.
Courtesy NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE Laila Jalil of North Idaho College tees off on the 18th hole Monday at the Northwest Athletic Conference women's golf championships at the Apple Tree Golf Course in Yakima, Wash. Jalil finished in a tie for second place.
YAKIMA, Wash. — Led by freshman Josh McCartain, the individual champion, the North Idaho College men’s golf team won the Northwest Athletic Conference championship for the fifth straight year Monday at the Apple Tree Golf Course.
McCartain shot 70-70—140, 2 under par, for a three-shot victory in the event, which began Sunday.
NIC’s men shot 291-298—589 and won by 13 shots over Community Colleges of Spokane.
Jarett Giles of NIC tied for fifth at 71-77—148.
“The men did what they needed to do; none of them were super pleased with their scores,” seventh-year NIC coach Russell Grove said.
McCartain shot a 6-under 31 on the back nine on Sunday, with two eagles and two birdies.
Monday, starting on the back, he shot a 3-under 34. On the front, he double-bogeyed the par-5 third and par-4 fourth, then finished with birdies on 5, 7 and 9 for his third tournament win this spring.
“Josh is just solid; he’s been solid all year,” Grove said. “He’s just solid; he’s got an awesome short game. He’s definitely the best player in the conference.”
Grove said McCartain is planning to return to NIC this fall, but is also drawing recruiting interest from four-year schools.
“It’s just awesome to do it five years in a row; it just goes to show we have a solid program,” said Grove, who joined the team for Monday’s final round after playing in the PGA Championship last week at Oak Hill in New York. “And we’re recruiting a high-caliber player, and they want to play here.”
Cole Jaworski, a freshman at Community Colleges of Spokane and formerly of Coeur d’Alene High, finished third with a 74-71—145.
NIC’s women nearly won their first conference tournament since 2017, and second under Grove, until an “unfortunate ending” on the par-5 18th hole.
The Cardinal women had a four-stroke lead with one hole to play.
Laila Jalil of NIC birdied the hole and finished tied for second (78-87—165) with teammate Navy Wood (86-79—165).
Lauryn Bulger’s tee shot on 18 landed in the water — or so she thought. But, Grove said, what actually happened was the tee shot skipped off the water, hit a railroad tie and kicked into another fairway.
Bulger, thinking the ball was in the water, took a drop and thought she was lying two.
Then, someone who was walking the course with the group told her no, the ball wasn’t in the water, it was in an adjacent fairway.
So Bulger picked up her ball and was heading over to play her original ball, and a rules official showed up and told her since she had taken a drop, that ball was in play and she had to play from there. But since she had picked up the ball, she had to drop again, and now she was lying four.
With the penalty strokes, she ended up making a triple-bogey 8. Sarah Lawrence of Bellevue, who won the individual title by 16 strokes, made eagle at the last, and the other Bellevue girl made birdie.
That was enough to give Bellevue a one-shot victory over NIC.
“She felt awful,” Grove said of Bulger. “Just a weird, unfortunate ending. She felt horrible; I felt horrible.”
Bulger finished sixth overall with an 85-85—170.
NIC’s women, like the men, had won every conference tournament this school year — fall and spring.
“The women fought hard; it was a bummer to have it end like that, to end on a fluke deal,” Grove said. “I’m just proud of both teams, they fought for every shot. I just feel for the ladies; I know how badly they wanted it.”
MEN
TEAM SCORES — 1, North Idaho 291-298—589. 2, Spokane 304-298—602. 3, Bellevue 302-308—610. 4, Southwestern Oregon 304-310—614. 5, Skagit Valley 327-327—654.
INDIVIDUALS — 1, Josh McCartain, NIC, 70-70—140. 2, Clayton Whitby, Columbia Basin, 72-71—143. 3, Cole Jaworski, Spokane, 74-71—145.
NORTH IDAHO — 1, Josh McCartain 70-70—140; T5, Jarett Giles 71-77—148; 11, Jamen Parsons 74-78—152; T12, Caden Gambini 76-77—153; 16, Spence Matson 80-74—154; T27, Hardy Johnson 82-82—164.
WOMEN
TEAM SCORES — 1, Bellevue 249-250—499. 2, North Idaho 249-251—500. 3, Columbia Basin 252-285—537. 4, Southwestern Oregon 279-305—584.
INDIVIDUALS — 1, Sarah Lawrence 76-73—149. 2 (tie), Laila Jalil, NIC, 78-87—165 and Navy Wood, NIC, 86-79—165.
NORTH IDAHO — T2, Laila Jalil 78-87—165, Navy Wood 86-79—165; 6, Lauryn Bulger 85-85—170. 15, Sofia Lippiello 89-92—181; 18, Marissa McCallum 94-98—192; 21, Cassandra Lee 103-103—206.
