The Northwest Mississippi Community College men’s golf team finished seventh out of 12 teams at the Chris Clark Invitational held at Dancing Rabbit Golf Course. The team completed five rounds over seven days, ending 56 over par and jumping one spot in the team standings by edging Northeast Mississippi Community College.
Senior Atharv Sharma led the Rangers individually, finishing in the top 10 with a two-day total of 154, or 10 over par. The freshman from Germany started on the back nine in the first round, carding only two bogeys and finishing two over. He encountered trouble on holes three and four with double bogeys but recovered to finish the day one over on the final five holes.
Sharma’s second round mirrored the first, with a birdie on the 11th and a tough stretch on the 12th and 15th that resulted in double bogeys. He played the front nine even par and finished the round one under on the final five holes. His performance marked his second-best finish of the season, behind a third-place finish at the Rangers’ home tournament in November.
Teammates Braden Beverage, Cole Elander, and Caesar Ingendorf also competed. Beverage tied for 24th at 14 over, after a strong start that saw him even through seven holes. A bogey on the 17th pushed him to one over at the turn, and he struggled on the back nine, finishing 10 over for the day and dropping 13 spots overall.
Elander and Ingendorf faced their own challenges. Elander struggled on day one with nine bogeys and one birdie, finishing 11 over. He improved significantly on day two, shooting six over. Ingendorf recorded an 82 on day one and finished the tournament at 17 over after inconsistent play on both days. Drew Dabbs rounded out the team, finishing 19 over, with his best round being the first day.
Despite the overall results, the Rangers moved up one spot in the national rankings to 34th. Sharma remains in the top 100 nationally, and Elander has climbed from 245 to 164 in the spring rankings. The team now has a few weeks off for spring break before traveling to Meridian for the Meridian Invitational at Northwood Country Club on March 23-24. Updates on Ranger golf are available at nwccrangers.com and on the team’s social media accounts.
