U.S. Army veteran enjoys challenge as member of men’s golf team

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Russ Mitchell

Jordan Armbrust, member of Scottsdale Community College men’s golf team

Michael Russell, Reporter

Jordan Armbrust enjoys being a part of a team.

Whether it’s the golf team at Scottsdale Community College, where Armbrust is playing in his second season for Coach Dan Dersam, or the team he joined years ago as a member of the U.S. Army.

“I’m originally from the cornfields of Nebraska,” Armbrust said. “My family moved to Arizona when I was seven years old.”

As a high school freshman in 2005, Armbrust won the Futures Golf Championship at the 500 Golf Club in Phoenix.

“At that point, however, I ended up taking a seven-year hiatus from golf,” Armbrust said.

His size, athleticism, and love for football earned him a letter for perennial football powerhouse Glendale Cactus High his last three years of high school in the west valley where he graduated in 2009.

Armbrust joined the military right after graduation and served for four years.

A part of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, Armbrust was stationed at Camp Casey in South Korea, 14 miles from North Korea and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

While there, Armbrust saw his share of red alerts, including the bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island in South Korea by North Korean leader Kim Jong-IL in Nov. 2010, of which former U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson, said, “It’s a very, very tense situation, a crisis situation.”

Returning home from the military, Armbrust was a busy father raising two young daughters when the opportunity came along to play for Coach Dersam at SCC, a challenge Armbrust was eager to take on.

College golf is not a typical team sport, because while a player competes with teammates against other schools, individual players are also competing against one another. Still, it is the team concept that continues to appeal to Armbrust.

The SCC men’s golf team played a couple of very challenging courses in February beginning with the Pima Invitational, played at the Omni National in Tucson, a course which has hosted PGA tournaments and NCAA championships.

The team posted a 5th place finish led by Sophomore Mason Opheim (Fargo, ND) at +5 and Freshman Mathew Creighton (Gilbert, AZ) at +9.

SCC also took on the Estrella Mountain Invitational at another tough layout, The Red Course at Wigwam in Litchfield Park.

Leading SCC’s 5th place finish at Wigwam were Creighton +3 and sophomore, Gary Schlee (Sedona, AZ) +4.

The full results are available at golfstat.

The team has a few weeks off that include spring break and will return to their home course, Hillcrest Golf Club in Sun City West for matches on March 25 and 26.