Banging the flagstick on his approach to the final hole, Landon Fox of the Barton Community College men's golf team closed out his Cougar golf career with a birdie wrapping up the 2015 NJCAA Division I Men's National Championship held at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kansas. The sophomore from Winfield, Kansas, carded a +5 77 moving up two slots to a 61st place tie among the ninety-seven entries.
Fox began the final day on the par five tenth hole, missing his second good chance of birdie during the week finishing "The Beast" +1 through four rounds. Fox pared the next two holes before inclement weather delayed play for over an hour. Parring the thirteenth following the delay, Fox found the fairway bunker on the dreaded fourteenth. Salvaging bogey with a chip, the hole was not kind to Fox adding five strokes to his scorecard during the week.
Another bogey on fifteen and seventeen sandwiched Fox's lone birdie on the first nine playing the sixteenth hole at -2 for the week. Finding another fairway bunker on the eighteenth, Fox's approach landed in a greenside grass bunker but a 8' par saving putt salvaged the hole closing the first nine at +2 38.
Making the turn to the first hole, Fox made one of his best putts of the tournament draining a 25' putt for birdie getting him one stroke from even. However an errant tee shot ensued and was followed by the clipping of a tree branch led to hitting four into the tough second green and an eventual giving two shots back with the double-bogey.
Rolling thru the next two holes with par, Fox approach landed 2' from the hole but spun back leaving a 5' putt missed settling for par. A bad approach to the sixth led to missed high side par putt with things not getting any better into the teeth of the wind for the par three seventh as a 6' par putt missed its mark.
Enduring a two hole slide and facing Fox's nemesis hole the par four eighth, a tee shot into the left fairway bunker was not the start to break the bogey train. Flying the approach into tall grass beyond the back of the green, Fox salvage bogey leaving behind six shots on the hole for the week.
Bombing his final tee shot on the closing ninth hole, Fox short approach hit the pin for a near eagle. Capping off a long day on the course, Fox closed out his Barton career draining the birdie putt finishing the four-day tournament at +23 for a 311 score.
Finishing in a tie for 61st place, Fox's improvement during his sophomore campaign wasn't reflected in comparison to his 54th 2014 national finish. Instead, it was evident throughout the tournament especially in the mental and short game bettering last year's performance with the six stroke improvement on the national stage.