College golf: Wranglers ready to compete at NJCAA Championships

If there is one assurance Odessa College golf head coach Paul Chavez can give to his team heading into this week's NJCAA Division I Championships, he can tell them they will be fine.

No one on the squad has ever played in the national championship, but Chavez has overseen 10 prior Wranglers teams that got there.

So, with confidence, Chavez tells them what to expect.

"It's just being mentally prepared," he said. "I have no doubt we have the talent to win it,"

The Wranglers, ranked eighth in the nation, begin the four-round tournament this morning at the Hampton Cove Golf Course in Huntsville, Ala.

Whether Chavez's advice is the ultimate boost is yet to be seen, but the fact that the team is healthy and together for the first time in a while is perhaps the biggest pick-me-up.

Freshman Ganeev Giddie missed a tournament while participating in the Kenyan Open. Freshman Mac Walrath is better after reaggravating a hamstring injury during a practice round at the NJCAA Texas State Championships in early April and playing through it not at full strength.

And sophomore Mark Penny, who shares the No. 1 status with sophomore Ross Leeds, is back from a scary experience at the Western Junior College Athletic Conference in Ruidoso, N.M., April 26-27. Soon after the team arrived, Penny became ill, suffering from many symptoms common to the H1N1 virus - better knows as the swine flu - and went to the emergency hospital.

Once he checked out, he began suffering chest pains from dehydration and again checked back into the hospital. It turned out he had something closer to rotavirus, and he's back to full strength now.

"It's been a while since I last played," Penny said. "I was wondering what was wrong with me, lying in the hospital, so far away from home. But now I'm really excited. I'm starting to play quite well. I just think if a couple of us can get it going it'll be a good story by the end of the week."

It has been more than three weeks since OC has played in a tournament, longer since the team has had all its parts together.

"The three weeks off have been a blessing for us," Chavez said. "We've gotten back to full health."

And when the team is healthy, Chavez believes it can hang with anyone.

The key players believe so, too.

Leeds played at Hampton Cove last spring and shared his experience with his teammates. Putting will be extremely important, Leeds said, as the course favors those with a sharp short game.

"I've advised them on what they should be working on," Leeds said. "Six, seven-irons are critical. They've got some long par threes, so using a four- or five-iron there.

"People are going to be missing greens, but if the short game is there we have a good chance of winning it."

Make no mistake about it, winning it is the goal. 

"We're all here for one reason," Leeds said. "We worked really hard to be where we are now. I really do think we have a good chance of winning it. If some can shoot under par and get a few good scores going, we'll bring the title back."

NJCAA Division I Golf Championships

>> Who: Odessa College - Sophomores Ross Leeds and Mark Penny; freshmen Diego Castilla, Ganeev Giddie and Mac Walrath. Alternate: Zach Stokes.

>> When: Today-Friday; 7 a.m. tee-times.

>> Where: River Course at Hampton Cove Golf Course, Huntsville, Ala.

>> History: Reached national championships in 10 of last 11 years; champions in 2004.