No. 2 Bulldogs start postseason Friday
PERKINSTON — No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast will tee off the postseason starting Friday in the MACCC Championship.
Gulf Coast will take six golfers to the event, with five eligible to play each day.
"The guys had spring break off and then obviously had a more relaxing week last week (working) at the Rapicsan (Systems Classic)," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "I think they're reenergized. Everybody is back healthy, so I like where we're headed going into conference and district the next few weeks. I think we're in good shape."
Gulf Coast is ranked second in the Bushnell Golfweek NJCAA Division II Coaches Poll and the Golfstat Team Rankings. The field includes Meridian, ranked fifth by the coaches and ninth by the computers, as well as Northeast Mississippi, which is 15th according to Golfstat.
Meridian won four of the six MACCC regular-season events, including one Gulf Coast didn't participate in. The Bulldogs won the other two.
"I think with the teams coming in next year and the next few years, our conference is only going to get stronger," Thornton said. "Meridian has a great team. Top to bottom, it's probably the deepest team they've ever had, even counting that 2018 team where we went 1-2 with them down the stretch at nationals. Northeast isn't quite as deep, but they've got the leading scorer (Tate Dickerson) in the conference and a couple other guys who support him pretty well. They can string together things and make us be on our toes. I think we'll be ready."
The Bulldogs will have David Beard (Fr., Madison/Madison Central), Reeves Johnson (So., Madison/Germantown), Alessio Graziani (Fr., Johannesburg, South Africa/Beaulieu College), Matt Wilkinson (So., Madison/Madison Central), Chase Kaiser (Fr., Natchez/Cathedral) and Ethan Trouth (So., Sutton Coldfield, England/The Streetly Academy). Trouth will be the sub available for the second round, if needed.
The two-day, 36-hole event is being hosted by Copiah-Lincoln at Wolf Hollow Golf Club in Wesson.
"It's a racetrack," Thornton said. "If it gets fast and firm, you can get some low numbers out of it. I'm hoping that's something we can take advantage of. The guys worked really hard on their games the last few weeks, so I look for us to take advantage of it. We've had a lot of good history at the golf course, so hopefully it continues."
For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
