Alex Wrenn participates in 2016 Patriot All-America Invitational
LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. – Sophomore Alex Wrenn (CMC) had the honor of representing the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's golf team at the 2016 Patriot All-America Invitational. The golf tournament ran from Dec. 29-31 at The Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park, Arizona, and featured 84 PING All-America golfers from all three NCAA Divisions, NAIA and NJCAA rankings as well as colleges outside the United States. Wrenn earned his spot in the tournament after being named on the Division III PING All-America First Team during the 2015-16 season. Junior Jonathan Shaw (CMC) was selected to participate during the 2015 edition of the tournament.
After shooting 7-over the first day and 8-over the next, Wrenn shot 5-over on the final day of the tournament and finished tied for 73rd. Cameron Champ from Texas A&M won the tournament after beating out Zachary Olsen from Oklahoma State University in a two-hole playoff. Both golfers were tied at 7-under before heading into the 2-hole round.
Beyond the results, The Patriot All-America was a special event for Wrenn and the other golfers that participated as they had the opportunity to represent and carry the name of a fallen or injured military member.
"The Patriot was special because I have never played in an event that had such a specific charitable and honorable cause like this one did," Wrenn reflected. "Most of the tournaments I play in you show up, play, and the lowest scores leaves town with the trophy. But this was something different. It was something more than just the numbers you put on the scorecard."
In a joint effort with Folds of Honor Foundation, The Patriot All-America gave each golfer a special golf bag during the opening ceremony with a name of the fallen or injured military member they were going to represent. At the tournament's conclusion, each bag will be shipped to the players' schools and auctioned with all proceeds going to the Folds of Honor Foundation, which provides post-secondary educational scholarships for children and spouses of military service members killed or disabled while in active service.
Wrenn had the honor of representing Sergeant Jeffery S. Brown from Trinity Center, Calif. Sgt. Brown, who worked as a helicopter crew chief, joined the Army in July 2000 and was stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas in Sept. 2003. On Aug. 8, 2006, during his second deployment to Iraq with the 82nd Medical Company, Sgt. Brown was involved in a fatal crash when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter he was travelling in crashed into a lake in the vicinity of Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He is survived by his wife and two kids, one of which is a Folds of Honor Higher Education Scholarship recipient.
"Playing for Sgt. Jeffery Brown was special because anytime you can be associated with someone who gave their life to the country that has provided you so much is really cool," Wrenn said. "What these men and women do is extremely honorable and Sgt. Brown gave the ultimate sacrifice so being associated with him is very humbling."
"My biggest takeaway from the event was just another reminder of what the US Military does for its citizens. It always sad to be reminded how many of the them lose their lives serving, but that reminder also tells me again how much respect we should all have for them and how I personally can do a better job of honoring and taking care of our nation's vets."
With a memorable experience behind him, Alex Wrenn will be preparing to compete in conference play with the Stags as they get ready for SCIAC #1 on Feb. 18 at the Brookside Golf Club in Pasadena, Calif.
By Young Kim
Sports Information Assistant
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