T-Bird (M-Golf) Moves up 2 Spots in Round 2 at Sand Creek Station
The NMC men's golf team moved up two spots to 10th place after recording an 8-over team total of 296 in Round 2 of the 2026 NJCAA Men's Golf National Championship.
The T-Birds are 22 shots back of first place Indian Hills CC. The No. 1 ranked Warriors are 8-over for the tournament following rounds of 5-over and 3-over.
Second place is McLennan at 11-over and third place is Central Alabama CC at 14-over.
First-round leader Harry McArdle of Indian Hills is still atop the leaderboard after firing a 4-under 68 in Round 2 to move 5-under for the championship.
Riley Apodaca shot well on Wednesday registering a 1-over 73 in Round 2. The freshman was even through his first nine holes with a birdie, a bogey and seven pars. Apodaca made two bogeys and a birdie on the back nine to shoot a 1-over 37 and finish with a 73. The Deming, NM native has shot 78-73 over 36 holes and is T-33 at 7-over.
Tristan Kolasinski rebounded from his tough first day to shoot a 1-over 73 in Round 2. The freshman made one bogey and eight pars in his opening nine to make the turn at 1-over. Kolasinski added two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine to shoot an even-par 36. The Kobylanka, Poland native shot 81-73 in his first two rounds and is tied for 54th place at 10-over.
Oliver Ruutu shot a 3-over 75 in Round 2. The sophomore had a rollercoaster first 11 holes that saw him make three birdies, four bogeys, one double, and three pars to sit at 3-over on the day. He then rattled off seven straight pars to card a respectable 3-over 75. Ruutu posted 74-75 through his first two rounds and is tied for 18th at 5-over.
Alfie Mellor shot the same score as Ruutu with a 3-over 75 in Round 2. The sophomore made double on his first hole of the day but made birdie on No. 4 to move to 1-over. He made bogeys on No. 7 and No. 9 to make the turn in 39 (+3). Mellor settled down with six straight pars and then made an eagle on the par-5 16th to move to 1-over on the day. An unfortunate double on the last hole saw Mellor drop back to 3-over. The Albuquerque, NM native shot 77-75 in two rounds to move into a tie for 38th place at 8-over.
Substitute Nick Friedrichsen got a taste of the national championship course for the first time in his career shooting a 9-over 81 in Round 2. The sophomore recorded five bogeys, one birdie, and three pars in his opening nine to shoot 40 (+4). Friedrichsen shot 5-over on the back nine to finish with an 81.
Tee times for Round 3 are as follows from Hole No. 1, Nick Friedrichsen will tee off at 10 a.m. CDT, Tristan Kolasinski at 10:10 a.m. CDT, Alfie Mellor at 10:20 a.m. CDT, Riley Apodaca at 10:30 a.m. CDT, and Oliver Ruutu at 10:40 a.m. CDT.
T-Bird fans can follow the live scoring by clicking here and for live updates follow NMJC men's golf's Instagram @nmjc_mgolf.