Bulldogs blow away field at windy NJCAA Preview
Mississippi Gulf Coast made the 10-hour drive to Joplin, Mo., with a long-range goal in mind — getting ready for next spring's NJCAA Division II Golf Championship.
They did that and more, destroying the field in the preview tournament and winning by 34 shots over Kirkwood.
"It's a huge confidence booster for us," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "A lot of guys played well and learned a lot. We accomplished our goal to prepare for May, and our secondary goal, winning this tournament, just happened to be a little icing on the cake."
It was a three-tier cake, with the Bulldogs posting the low score in each round and Matt Wilkinson (So., Madison/Madison Central) winning medalist by six shots over teammate David Beard (Fr., Madison/Madison Central). Gulf Coast had four golfers in the top eight, and all five were in the top 14.
Wilkinson was the only golfer to finish in the red at 3-under. In a self-confessed slump to start the fall, he made a couple of swing tweaks recently that turned his game around. Wilkinson said a lot of the turnaround was mental and that he got his "mojo" back.
He and the Bulldogs persevered over menacing wind conditions.
"I feel like I was at an advantage with this wind because of how low and penetrating my ball-flight is with my irons," he said. "I was able to really stick it close. My ball-striking these past two days has been probably the best it's ever been."
Gulf Coast came into the tournament first in the Golfstat ratings and fifth in the Bushnell Golfweek NJCAA Division II Coaches Poll. Kirkwood was ranked third in both, and Tyler was another eight shots back as the fourth-ranked in both. MACCC-rival Meridian was fifth.
"The course conditions progressively got worse yesterday and even today with the wind picking up, and I think our guys adapted well," Thornton said. "I'm not sure that will be the case in May when more teams have the chance to prepare for the conditions, but I couldn't have asked for more mental toughness out of our guys, because the wind was no joke this week."
Team scores |
|
| School | Scores |
|---|---|
| 1. Gulf Coast | 291-289-301—881 (+17) |
| 2. Kirkwood | 293-307-315—915 (+51) |
| 3. Tyler | 310-295-318—923 (+59) |
| 4. Hawkeye | 304-305-319—928 (+64) |
| 5. Meridian | 309-304-320—933 (+69) |
| 6. Southeast | 313-301-322—936 (+72) |
| 7. Walters State | 315-308-317—940 (+76) |
| 8. Des Moines Area | 313-310-320—943 (+79) |
| 9. Alexandria Tech | 325-307-341—973 (+109) |
| 10. Southwestern | 324-329-325—978 (+114) |
| 11. Seminole State | 334-323-331—988 (+124) |
| 12. Mineral Area | 325-325-340—990 (+126) |
MGCCC scores |
|
| Player | Scores |
|---|---|
| 1. Matt Wilkinson | 72-69-72—213 (-3) |
| T2. David Beard | 75-68-76—219 (+3) |
| T6. Alessio Graziani | 69-78-77—224 (+8) |
| 8. Reeves Johnson | 75-75-76—226 (+10) |
| 14. Chase Kaiser | 79-77-77—233 (+17) |
| T23. Ethan Trouth* | 80-76-81 —237 (+21) |
| *—Playing as individual | |
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