By STEVE CARPENTER - Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Back in October, the Hutchinson Community College men's golf team received its first No. 1 ranking in program history in any poll.
The Blue Dragons reached No. 1 in a second poll on Friday as Hutchinson enters the 2021 spring season as the top-ranked team in the Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches' Pre-Spring Poll.
GolfStat placed the Blue Dragons No. 1 first when it posted its first national NJCAA Division I rankings of the season on October 14, 2020.
The Blue Dragons played three tournaments in the 2020 fall seasons. They finished no worse than fourth in two predominant NCAA Division II Tournament fields and then won the NJCAA National Preview at The Rawls Course, site of the 2021 NJCAA Championships in, in Lubbock, Texas.
The Blue Dragons set numerous team records and four different Hutch golfers posted career-low 54-hole scores in winning the National Preview.
Hutchinson received all seven first-place votes in the Bushnell/Golfweek Pre-Spring poll. Odessa College follows the Blue Dragons at No. 2. Then it's District III rival Indian Hills, Eastern Florida State and Midland College at Nos 3, 4 and 5.
Central Alabama, Iowa Western, Western Texas, McLennan and Jefferson State round out the Top 10.
The Blue Dragons were ranked fourth in the final fall Bushnell/Golfweek rankings. Midland was the previous No. 1 team.
Dodge City was receiving votes and was the only other team in the Jayhawk Conference to be listed in the Pre-Spring poll.
The Blue Dragons will open the 2021 spring season on the same course it hopes to finish – the Rawls Course in Lubbock. The Dragons will play at the Lubbock Christian University Chap Classic on March 8 and 9. Hutchinson will play five regular-season tournaments before the District III/Region VI Championships.
Hutch's three conference sites are at Colbert Hills in Manhattan (March 29), Sand Creek Station in Newton (April 12 and 13) and Crestview-South in Wichita (April 19-20). The District III/Region VI Championship will be at Crestview-North in Wichita (April 26-27) and the NJCAA Championships will be in Lubbock on May 10-13.