Eastern Navajo Fair golf tournament draws 18 teams

ALBUQUERQUE – The goal was to shoot 18-under par.

That was the score that the team of Brendan Briscoe, Jacob Francisco, Benelda Cohoe-Belone and Patrick D. Lynch were aiming for Monday during the 3rd Annual Eastern Navajo Fair golf tournament held at the UNM Championship Golf Course.

The quartet missed that mark by one stroke as they captured the four-man scramble that featured 18 foursomes.

“We were actually pretty accurate,” said Francisco, a recent graduate of Gallup’s Miyamura High School.

“I think what helped, too, is we all trusted one another,” added Briscoe, who graduated from Window Rock High School in May. The two recent high school alums were instrumental in the long drives, getting the ball close to the greens. From there, Lynch and Cohoe-Belone finished each hole with a chip or pitch shot and by putting in the ball.

“I think for the most part we just did everything hole by hole,” Cohoe-Belone said. “The boys definitely have those long drives. We just focused on taking the second shot and finishing it off with a really good putt.”

“The greens were really nice and that is what really helped us,” said Brisco..

“The course was generally challenging, but we just focused on having fun,” addedFrancisco.

The foursome finished with a total gross score of 55, edging two teams by two strokes each as the winning teams were awarded pottery art and handkerchiefs.

“We had a good turnout,” ENF golf coordinator Mark Freeland said. “Our numbers are up from last year, which is significant. A lot of the guys that showed up wanted to play on a nice course and we were lucky to book this course at UNM.”

Last year the ENF golf tournament was held at the Coyote del Malpais Golf Course in Grants, New Mexico, and hosted 15 teams.

“It’s an upgrade,” Freeland said of the change in venues. “Just getting feedback from the players, they’re saying the golf course is in really good shape, especially the greens.”

According to Isaac Pacheco, the Head Golf Pro at the UNM Championship Golf Course, the 18-hole golf course has its challenges.

“It’s very demanding,” Pacheco said. “You have to be long enough to hit in the middle of the fairway, and the greens are probably its biggest defense.”

The initial golf course was built in 1942 near the UNM campus and it had 27 holes. But as the university grew it was whittled down by nine holes. As the Championship Course, it officially opened in 1967.

“The then-head coach took the team up the Sandia Mountains and that is where all these trees came from,” Pacheco said of the pine and oak trees that dotted the course. “This is the home to the men’s and women’s collegiate golf team for the Lobos. It hosts the second-oldest collegiate event (William H. Tucker Invitational) in the nation.

“Any current professional golfer playing on tour who played Division I golf probably played here,” Pacheco added. “So your favorite golfer has probably stepped foot on this piece of property.”

And although there were some add-ons on the day of the tournament, Pacheco said, “It wasn’t something we can’t accommodate. We do this 35, 40 times in a season, hosting events like this.”

The money raised from the golf tournament will help fund the powwow and song and dance events at this year’s fair, which officially kicked off on Monday.

“It’ll help offset some of those costs, you know, pay prize money. It’s really a fundraiser to help give back to the fair,” says Freeland. “The proceeds will go back to the Eastern Navajo Fair.”

Each golfer paid $125 to enter. The paid entrees earned them 18 holes of golf, some range balls, a golf cart, lunch and prizes.

“That’s not bad,” Freeland said of the cost. “I mean, we could have charged them more, but we kept it relatively low.”

And although ENF is in its 46th year, the golf tournament has been in existence for three years.

“It’s good to have this golf tournament because it gets our name out there, which is Eastern Navajo Fair,” Freeland said. “We want to represent and get some props on our side of the Navajo Nation. We want to be recognized as well. It kind of showcases Eastern Navajo as well.

We have teams from Phoenix, Shiprock, Farmington and Albuquerque as well,” Freeland said. “We got people from home, so we’re lucky to have them as part of this year’s fair.”

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