Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College men's golf teams starts the 2022 NJCAA Division I National Golf Tournament in a position it has never been in before – defending national champions.

One year ago, the Blue Dragons played a tremendous final six holes to complete its national championship run in Lubbock, Texas. This year, the Blue Dragons return to the Lone Star State for their title defense, playing the 7,260-yard par-72 Odessa Country Club.

The Blue Dragons qualified for their 21st consecutive and 24th overall NJCAA National Tournament by finishing second in the Central District Championship two weeks ago in Hastings, Nebraska. The Blue Dragons also won the Jayhawk Conference and Region VI team championships along the way and are ranked No. 3 in the final national polls.

Hutchinson will be paired with No. 1 Midland College and No. 2 Central Alabama for the first two rounds of the national tournament. Tuesday tee times are from 7:30 to 8:06 a.m. The Dragons will tee off on Wednesday from 1:15 to 1:51 p.m.

In addition to the defending the team championship, Blue Dragon sophomore Ben Partridge is the defending NJCAA individual champion. Last season, Partridge defeated teammate Harry Crockett in a four-hole playoff to add that honor to a list of honors that included the Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman of the Year and Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Awards.

This season, Partridge enters the national tournament as a two-time Jayhawk Conference champion. Crockett comes into nationals after winning back-to-back individual championships.

The Blue Dragon duo on Monday were named 2022 PING first-team All-Americans for the second-straight season. They were joined on the first time by Central Alabama's Hayden Carner, Odessa's Sangha Park and Eastern Wyoming's Brendon Thomas.

Partridge and Crockett are the 12th and 13th PING All-Americans in Blue Dragon men's golf history.

Both Partridge and Crockett enter the national tournament with an adjusted stroke average of 70.88, tied for the third best in the NJCAA this season. Partridge is No. 1 and Crockett is No. 5 in the GolfStat.com NJCAA individual player rankings.

The Blue Dragons will have one other sophomore and two freshmen to try and complete the title defense. Blake Saffell has a stroke average of 73.80, Addison Alonzo is averaging 74.17 and Dominic Clemons is averaging 75.47.

The NJCAA National tournament is a four-round tournament which runs Tuesday through Friday.