Men's Golf claims second straight NJCAA Region I, Division I Team Title, Max Krueger claims Individual Crown

The Pima Community College men's golf team closed out play in the NJCAA Region I, Division I Championships on Sunday at the Corte Bella Golf Course.

• The No. 9 ranked Aztecs went back-to-back as they won the Region I, Division I Team Championship after shooting a 292, the team's best score of the tournament. They finished with a four-day total of 1190 (298-296-304-292). The Aztecs beat out Estrella Mountain Community College by 13-strokes as the Lions posted a score of 1203 (309-298-299-297). Eastern Arizona College placed third with a 1240 (314-310-311-305).
• The Aztecs also went back-to-back in individual titles as sophomore Max Krueger (Salpointe Catholic HS) took home the championship as he shot a 1-over par 72 on the day and closed out the tournament with a 288 (72-74-70-72). Krueger beat out Jake Lydic (75-72-68-76-291) from Estrella Mountain by 3-strokes as he trailed by 1-stroke entering the final round. Jay Shero won the individual title last season after beating teammate Daniel Henely (Cienega HS) in a tie-breaking playoff.
• "It's a good feeling. I played pretty good coming down the stretch and held it together," Krueger said. "It's a tough golf course. In the front-nine, it was slow play and I was being more aggressive because I was behind. The back-nine was just slow and consistent. I put it into the other guy's hands (Jake Lydic) to see what he would do and was lucky I came out on top."
• Freshman Herman Holst finished in third place as he shot a tournament-best 72 in his final round. He closed out the tournament with a 299 (74-75-78-72). Fellow freshman Daniel Aitken tied for fifth place with a total of 305 (79-70-79-77). Krueger, Holst and Aitken were named to the NJCAA All-Region team.
• Shero shot an even-par 71 and finished with a three-round total of 223 (73-79-DNP-71).
• "This is definitely sweet but it was extremely tough; probably one of the toughest tests we've had all season long," Pima men's golf coach Marcus Smith said. "Estrella Mountain played lights out golf and we weren't competing the first two days but the boys battled adversity and it's always sweet to win a region championship."

The Aztecs get an automatic team berth into the NJCAA Division I Championship, which will be held from May 16-19 at the Sand Creek Station Golf Course in Newton, Kansas.

See complete team and individual results from the Region I Championships on Golf Stat