By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com

Napa Valley College's Markus Nanpei had a very busy summer of golf.

He played in a U.S. Junior Amateur qualifying, shooting an even-par 72 and tying for 16th place at Yolo Fliers Club on June 5 in Woodland.

He played in the Guam Amateur Golf Championship, June 17-18 and June 24, at the Country Club of the Pacific, in Ipan, Talofofo. He finished in third place in the 54-hole event, shooting rounds of 81, 83 and 72.

He and his father, Mark Nanpei, traveled to Ogden, Utah to visit Weber State University. It's an NCAA-Division I school and a member of the Big Sky Conference.

He finished 10th at The Bay Regional Championship, Aug. 4-6, at Tilden Park Golf Course in Berkeley. He shot 72-79-71 – 222.

He won the championship flight of the Antioch City Amateur Championship, firing rounds of 68 and 66 and completing the two-day, 36-hole event, Aug. 19-20 at Lone Tree Golf Club, at 10-under-par 134. It's an official Northern California Golf Association points event.

He tied for fourth place in the scratch division of the Concord City Amateur Championship, Sept. 2-3 at Diablo Creek Golf Course. He shot 69-75 – 144 in the two-day, 36-hole event, which is listed on the NCGA schedule.

"He made a couple of trips to four years this past summer and Weber State was one of them. He fell in love with the university, their practice facility, the town, the state," said Bob Freschi, Napa Valley's head coach.

"He's fired up. I think it's a great fit. I'm so excited for him."

Nanpei, who won the individual title at the California Community College Athletic Association Northern California Regional Championship in May as a freshman, will play for the Storm this coming spring and then transfer to Weber State, where he will join the Wildcats golf program in the fall of 2024 as a junior.

He signed a national letter-of-intent with Weber State on Nov. 8 in the NVC Athletic Department. Nanpei, 19, was joined by his mother, Rose Marie Nanpei, and sister, Mia Nanpei, along with Freschi and players on the NVC team. He will play for Weber State on a scholarship. He plans to major in business.

"It's everything I've been working for, since I started playing golf. It's my dream to play. So, it means a lot," Nanpei said on National Signing Day. Scott Erling, Weber State's head coach, announced Nanpei's signing, in a report on Nov. 15, at weberstatesports.com.

Nanpei, who is from Mangilao, Guam, has been in the NVC program for two years. Guam is a territory of the United States in the Pacific.

"I started off a bit rough in the beginning, but I think it was just about getting comfortable, getting into the swing of things here. And playing a lot of golf helped," he said.

Nanpei had a super freshman season of college golf for NVC, as he was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team. It was also an outstanding 2023 season for the Storm. NVC finished in fourth place in the Big 8 Conference, third at the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association Northern California Regional Championship, and fourth place at the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association State Championships.

"To have Markus come into our program and Day 1, I met him. Just a joy to be around," said Freschi. "Polite, young man. Beautiful family. I wanted to see him play golf for the Storm. He selected us and he's here. He's just been a phenomenal talent. He had things to work on. And he progressed as the season went on in the spring, and he just continues to get better and better and mature.

"He was 17 when he came here. He's young, and he had to develop and work on his game, and then put it together and put up a low number. And as the season progressed, he was in our lineup in the middle of the pack. I was waiting for him to do something where I'm like, OK, he's ready to play at the front of the lineup. Once that happened, it kind of changed our trajectory over the season."

Nanpei won the individual title and the Storm placed third at the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association Northern California Regional Championship. Nanpei shot 68-74 – 142 in the two-day, 36-hole event at Castle Oaks Golf Club in Ione (Amador County). He won the title by one shot over Reedley College's Chase Bird and Elias Pettersson.

As the low medalist, Nanpei was presented with the CCCAA tournament's first-place medal and the Napa Valley team was awarded the third-place trophy.

"He went on the win NorCals. And since then, he's playing great golf," said Freschi. "You win a NorCal championship and compete at the state, four years are going to take notice. The way he strikes the ball and his finesse around the green, he's such a talent. I'm so proud of him."

Nanpei tied for 11th place, shooting 71-72 – 143, at the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association State Championships at Dragonfly Golf Club, in Madera.

Nanpei works with both Freschi and also assistant coach David Knox, a PGA Class A golf professional and the Director of Instruction at Napa Golf Course at Kennedy Park.

"It's where we come into play. Napa Valley College is a beautiful place to be," said Freschi. "We want players, men and women, to come in here and transfer and continue playing this great game of golf. Markus made that happen. He's a wonderful young man, and he's got a great golf career ahead of him.

"There's different avenues to get to the four-year college. It's hard to do it right out of high school." Nanpei graduated in 2022 from Father Duenas Memorial School, in Mangilao, Guam. He started playing golf at the age of 7, at Andersen Air Force Base Golf Course. It's a United States Air Force base. He got his start in the game, playing in a junior golf league. He worked closely with Lloyd Hartman on his swing and development in the game over the years and played high school golf for Father Duenas Memorial School.

Nanpei has played in tournaments as a member of the Guam Junior National Golf team and represented Guam at the 2022 Pacific Mini Games, in Saipan.

"It's an awesome, awesome day for all of us," said Rose Marie Nanpei. "We're all excited for him, because we know that he's worked hard. This is his goal. This was his goal, to go into a D-I school. He's had ups and downs and bumps along the way, but he's never given up. And I think that it shows just how dedicated and really how much he wants this. And now that the day has finally come, I'm just ecstatic for him. Even though there are disappointing times, he still manages to get up, practice, do what he needs to do, to better himself."

Markus Nanpei's other accomplishments include:

* Winning the boys 16-18 division of the New Jersey PGA Junior Cup Precision tournament at Mendham Golf & Tennis Club, in Mendham, New Jersey in 2021.

* Playing for Team Guam, Guam Junior Golf and Father Duenas Memorial High School, which finished 11th in a field of 46 teams at the National High School Golf Association Invitational Championship in 2021 in Pinehurst, N.C.

* Playing in the IMG Junior World Golf Championship in San Diego in 2015.

* Taking second place in the boys 14-15 division at the Augusta Summer Junior Open, a Hurricane Junior Golf Tour event, in Evans, Georgia in 2020.

"To come from Guam, to the States and play in California at Napa Valley, it's not easy. It's a challenge," said Freschi. "He had some challenges along the way and he accepted every challenge. I know he selected the right program in Napa Valley. And so, it was a great fit since Day 1. He continues to thrive in our program and is continuing to get better. He will compete with us in the spring. And I think after that he'll be really ready to compete for a Division I program. He has that competitive juice that makes him good."

Nanpei is so very grateful and thankful to Freschi and NVC for welcoming him to the community.

"Out of high school, I didn't have any other options, when it came to going to a four-year, so my dad and mom and I looked at Napa Valley and saw how good of opportunity It could be here. It worked out well," he said.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity (Coach Freschi) gave me and my family to supporting me."

Napa Valley begins its spring season in January. Nanpei said it's a very talented team.

"I think everyone on the team right now has the ability to go low and produce really good numbers. I want us to be the best team in our (Big 8) conference and make the state," said Nanpei.

Rose Marie Nanpei said she is so very thankful and appreciative of all the time that Freschi has spent working with Markus.

"We really wanted a coach that would mentor him, and not just a coach who teaches you techniques and all of that. For Mark and I, it was having a coach that could mentor him, someone that could help him to grow, not only in golf, but as a young man. So, we wanted to feel comfortable knowing that there was someone there that could that could help him mature and become responsible in whatever it is that he does. And I think that Coach Bob has done such a great job. So, we're very pleased for that," said Rose Marie Nanpei.

"And we're really thankful for the Napa Valley team and the college. It's given him a lot of opportunities, and people are wonderful. We're really happy that he had that opportunity to come here and experience it. That's important for us."

* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.