New London's Clayton Phillips qualifies for NJCAA Division II national golf tournament
As the long, dark, dreary, cold winter slowly descends on the United States, perhaps no one is dreading it more than Clayton Phillips.
After a brief hiccup in his golf game, the Carl Sandburg College sophomore finally has found his groove on the golf course, just in time to hang up the clubs for the season.
Phillips made the most of the Chargers' last three tournaments.
Phillips, a graduate of New London High School, finished sixth in the NJCAA Region IV Division II tournament last weekend at PrairieView Golf Club in Byron, Illinois, with a 54-hole total of 232 to claim one of five individual qualifying spots for nationals.
The top three teams and top five individuals not from those teams advanced to compete in the NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship to be played May 23-26 at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Indiana. It marks 11th year in a row and 15th time in the last 16 seasons that Carl Sandburg men's golf has advanced as a team or qualified an individual for nationals.
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Phillips, who tied for 43rd at the national tournament last season, opened the region tourney with rounds of 79 and 78 before closing with a 3-over-par 75 on Oct. 8 to punch his ticket.
"The first day I played decent, but the next day the wind started to really pick up and it got cold," Phillips said. "I didn't putt well the first day, The second day I putted better, but I didn't hit the ball as well. The third day was pretty good all the way around. It was 50 degrees when we teed off and I think it got up into the low 60s, but the wind was pretty strong."
Phillips said he had to make swing adjustments to account for the wind the last two days.
"I had to hit a lot of low shots to keep the wind from affecting it," Phillips said. "I hit it a little higher when I wanted it to go a little farther, but for the most part I tried to hit low shots."
It was part of a strong finish for Phillips. He carded a 2-over-par 74 at the Iowa Wesleyan University Tiger Classic Sept. 24 at Burlington Golf Club, then shot an even-par 72 and won a scorecard playoff for second at the Region IV preview tournament Oct. 3 at PrairieView.
A few helpful tips from his father, Mike Phillips, helped Clayton turn his game around down the stretch.
"I was struggling a little bit before the preview tournament, but I got it all figured out just in time," Clayton Phillips said. "I knew what I was doing wrong, but my dad straightened out a couple things with my swing a couple weeks before and the helped me quite a bit. I wasn't making as many dumb mistakes as before. I basically had to keep my head on my shoulders level."
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While the national tournament is still seventh months off, Phillips is looking forward to testing his skills against some of the best junior college golfers in the nation.
In the meantime, Phillips said he will take some time off to relax and focus on his studies and ponder his future at a four-year school after this year.
"I'll probably take a month or two off, then get back at it. We have a simulator here at the school, so I will go in there and work on my swing," Phillips said. "I'm really excited for nationals. It's at a different course this year, so that will be cool to play a new course."
Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA Today Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 32 years at The Hawk Eye. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: New London's Phillips makes NJCAA Division II national golf tournament
