For four years, Markus Nanpei was a proud roster member of the Father Duenas Memorial School championship golf team. Now, Nanpei is competing and making a name for himself on the Napa Valley College Storm’s men’s golf team, in Napa, California.
Nanpei, early this week, while competing in the Northern California Junior College Golf Championships, in Ione, California, on the Castle Oaks Golf Course, led the eight-team field, posting a tournament-best 68. In that opening round, he didn’t start in perfect form but he charged through the back nine.
On the front nine, he shot two over par. But on the back nine, he finished with five birdies.
“I caught fire on the back nine,” he said.
In the two-day tournament, which took place Monday and Tuesday, Nanpei finished with a team-best 142, earning the distinction as the tournament’s best golfer, two strokes better than Fresno City College’s Nick Schultz, who shot a 144.
“There’s been some ups and downs during the course of the season, but to come out and play well for two days and win, feels amazing,” Nanpei said. “I believe, as a golfer, I’ve started to come into my own since moving out here.”
The other teams that competed in the tournament were Delta College, Fresno City, Modesto Junior College, Reedley College, San Jose City College, Sierra College, and Taft College.
Along with Nanpei’s top individual performance, he led the storm to a third-place team finish, qualifying Napa for the upcoming California Community College Athletic Association State Championship, in Fresno, California. Reedley and Fresno colleges also qualified for the championships.
Nanpei told The Guam Daily Post that he is eager to compete against the state’s best golfers. He is also excited to take to the links with Ivan Sablan, who he played with at Father Duenas and currently plays with on the College of the Desert men’s golf team in California.
“I am very excited to have the opportunity to play for a state title in my first year, and it’s exciting to meet up with my former high school teammate,” Nanpei said.
With the tournament a few days away, Nanpei will be working out the kinks and preparing to take on California’s best junior college golfers.
“I’m just going to go out and try to play my best golf,” he said. “I would just like for the team to play consistent and put up two good scores.”
