Troxler wins Carey Classic

Mississippi Gulf Coast's Colin Troxler finally has a medalist trophy to call his own. After five second-place finishes in his career, he carded another under-par round and held off the field to win the Carey Collegiate Classic on Tuesday.

Troxler fired a 1-under 71 to improve to 7-under for the event, winning by one shot over Coastal Georgia's Paxton Shuman. He helped No. 4 Gulf Coast finish fourth in the 11-team field dominated by four-year schools.

"Everything clicked," he said. "My ball-striking. My putter worked yesterday. I didn't make a lot of putts today, but everything clicked. I got up and down when I needed to. It all worked."

Troxler maintained his one-shot advantage over Shuman from the first round despite leaving some scoring on the course.

"He shot 1-under but really didn't make any putts," Gulf Coast coach Tommy Snell said. "If he'd made those, he'd have been 5- or 6-under. He just played solid and didn't let it rattle him. He just kept plugging."

Coastal Georgia, an NAIA power, won the tournament at 11-under, seven better than the host William Carey squad. The Crusaders' A-team included Gulf Coast alumni Danny De Los Santos and Conner Entriken, with Jesse Sunderman and Bryce Jackson competing on the B-team and as an individual, respectively.

The Bulldogs made up three shots on Spring Hill, but finished one back at 7-over. East Central, the only other MACJC team in the field, finished 10^th and 50-over.

Wyatt Adkison (So., East Central/Hurley) finished tied for ninth at even-par, and Colby Blake (Fr., Parklane/Tylertown) was two more shots back tied for 14^th.

"Wyatt played well as an individual," Gulf Coast coach Tommy Snell said. "Colby played well. We're kind of coming together a little bit."

The Bulldogs return to action March 27-28 in the GlenLakes Invitation in Foley, Ala.

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