MGCCC golf team looks ahead to Region 23 Tournament

Richie Williams, the 2009 Hubert Tucker Award winner, is one of seven freshmen set to return to Gulf Coast next year.

Sophomore Corey Ward works on his short game during a recent practice round at Windance Country Club in Gulfport.

One could argue that the 2009 season has been a big success for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College golf team. The Bulldogs won four out of the five MACJC regular season events, Richie Williams took home the 2009 Hubert Tucker Award for the season’s best individual scoring average, and the team took second at the recent MACJC State Tournament.

But for Gulf Coast golf coach Tommy Snell and his players, the true measure of success will be if they can win next week’s Region 23 Tournament in Starkville.

“We played as well as we could during the regular season,” Snell said. “We did not play well at the state tournament, and that happens sometimes.”

After a horrible first-day which had the team in fourth place, Gulf Coast surged back to take second in the event won by Co-Lin.

“That could’ve been very depressing but the guys came back and played well,” Snell added.

If the Bulldogs can win next week’s event, they’ll be the first Gulf Coast golf team to win back-to-back and Region 23 titles in the NJCAA Division II category. A win would also send Gulf Coast to the NJCAA National Tournament May 19-22 at Goose Pond Colony Golf Course in Scottsboro, Al.

“We’d love to win another Region 23 title,” Snell said. “Another trip to the national tournament would cap off a sensational year for us.”