Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Mesalands Community College boasts a nationally ranked intercollegiate rodeo team, and it now will have an intercollegiate golf team.
The team will compete in the National Collegiate Club Golf Association (NCCGA). The move to add golf to Mesalands’ sports offerings had been expected for months, as college President John Groesbeck had long advocated forming a team.
Mesalands has also hired a coach, Marty Garcia, who is recruiting golf team members for the spring 2020 semester.
“This is a new endeavor for the college, and I look forward to the challenge. I want to help Mesalands build a quality program and recruit some competitive golfers,” Garcia said. “Students will have the chance to continue their golfing career, advance themselves athletically and academically. We can also help them if they want to compete at the university level.”
Garcia, who hails from Tucumcari, retired from the City of Tucumcari in 2010 as a finance director. He has been coaching for nearly 20 years, including baseball, basketball, soccer and golf. For the past 10 years, he was the golf coach at Tucumcari High School, where he helped lead them to multiple district championships.
The Mesalands golf team will compete in the Desert Region of the NCCGA, which includes tournaments in Arizona and Nevada on the weekends.
Each semester, players will have three tournaments and the chance to compete at NCCGA regional and national championships. Practices will be at the nine-hole Tucumcari Municipal Golf Course.
To be eligible, each player must be a full-time student. Players cannot compete in NCCGA tournaments during the same season as other intercollegiate golf tournaments.
Mesalands is offering scholarships and out-of-state tuition waivers for members of the golf team.
Garcia also will teach HPE 116: Learning Golf during the spring semester. This one-credit hour course is designed for aspiring golfers.
“Golf is a game of a lifetime, and you can play at any level,” Garcia said. “I think the new Mesalands golf team will bring some excitement to our community and bring more people to our community.”
For more information about the college’s golf team, visit: mesalands.edu/golf.