NCMC Lady Pirates golfer Hannah Bracken has qualified for the NJCAA National Tournament in Mesa, Arizona. At Saturday’s Region 16 tournament in Excelsior Springs, the Stanberry native shot a 19-over par score, one behind the Region 16 championship score of Rachel Hancock of Cottey, but one stroke ahead of the cut to make the national tournament, to be played May 14th through the 17th at the Longbow Course in Mesa.
Lady Pirates Head Coach Daniel Cordray reports that the 18 holes provided challenges for Bracken, with highlights of the day including a birdie on the Par-5 9th, and a finish, with the pressure of producing a qualifying score on, of bogey-par-birdie over the final three holes. That finish had followed a difficult double bogey on the 15th.
Final scores for the event were as follows:
1st Place: Rachel Hancock, Cottey College +18
2nd Place: Hannah Bracken, NCMC +19
3rd Place: Julia Weydert, NCMC +22
4th Place: Shayla Woodside, NCMC +60
Coach Cordray told NCMCPirates.com, “It has been good season for Lady Pirate golf to see all three ladies steadily improve. Capping it off with a National Tournament berth by Hannah is great. She has worked bit by bit at improving her weaknesses that we identified and slowly progressed with them all season. As a coach, it was my goal to have them focus on improving all the way to regionals. We did that and peaked with our games when it mattered most. We’ll work hard with Hannah the next 2 weeks to be ready for the national tournament.”
