2 Gulf Coast coaches move closer to US Open
PERKINSTON — It's unlikely any golf team in the country will be able to top what the Mississippi Gulf Coast coaching staff has done in the last 10 days, when head coach Brad Thornton and assistant Jackson Wedgeworth moved within one step of qualifying for the 123rd U.S. Open Championship.
"I think it's special," Thornton said. "It's not unexpected by any means for Jackson. I'm very happy to have gotten through, as well. It's an awesome experience for us both to qualify, and to represent Mississippi Gulf Coast makes it that much better."
Mississippi Gulf Coast has the nation's second-ranked golf team and completed a dominant MACCC campaign last month. The Bulldogs are headed to the NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship later this month in Indiana.
The day after the Bulldogs are hopefully hoisting a trophy up there, the two coaches will find out where they'll be continuing their quest. Thornton and Wedgeworth each made it through brutal Local Qualifying events in the last 10 days and will play in the Final Qualifying round on June 5. The U.S. Open will be played June 15-18 at L.A. Country Club's North Course.
The U.S. Open is one of the most egalitarian golf tournaments in the world, where amateurs and low-level pros can earn their way into the national championship to play alongside the biggest names in the golf world.
Nearly 10,000 golfers signed up to play in one of 109 Local Qualifying events in the United States and Canada. Gulf Coast coaches are two of 530 who will advance to Final Qualifying.
Thornton is in his second year as Gulf Coast head coach after spending five years as assistant coach here. He was an NJCAA All-American playing for the Bulldogs from 2011-13.
He played his Local Qualifier on April 24 at Rocky Bayou Country Club in Niceville, Fla., shooting 2-over 72 to finish in a seven-way tie for the final two of five qualifying spots. The playoff started on No. 16, which he had birdied earlier in the day.
"Mine was pretty boring," Thornton said. "Luckily, the course conditions were very difficult so the scores got a little bit higher than you typically expect. I was fortunate to get into a playoff and to get through that was pretty nerve-wracking, but I'm happy and pleased to have done it."
Wedgeworth played on Gulf Coast's national championship team in 2018. As a freshman, the team finished second, and Thornton was an assistant on both teams.
Wedgeworth played at Tamahka Trails Golf Course in Marksville, La. His nerves were wracked more after he got off the course. He was in the fourth group to go off in the morning and posted a 69. There was another wave of golfers in the afternoon.
"I felt pretty good when I posted 2-under, but then we just had to wait," he said. "We were watching live scoring, watching guys come in, and the number just got smaller and smaller of guys who could catch me. I think I wound up leaving at 6:30 that night."
Thornton and Wedgeworth are now in the same boat as about 530 who will make it through to Final Qualifying, and they will join more than 200 others who were exempt from playing in the Local round. That includes four former US Open champions: Geoff Ogilvy (2006), Lucas Glover (2009), Graeme McDowell (2010) and Webb Simpson (2012).
They got to select three courses they'd want to play on June 5, and they selected the same ones in the same order: Ball Ground, Ga.; Durham, N.C.; and Boynton Beach, Fla. Those 36-hole qualifiers are called the longest day in golf.
Thornton and Wedgeworth had selected a qualifier in Texas when they submitted their application earlier this year. After consulting their calendar following their successes last week, they both had to beg to change that choice. The Dallas qualifier will be played May 22, which happens to be the day before Gulf Coast starts the four-day national championship tournament.
Their requests were honored, and now they'd like to see team success launch them toward Los Angeles.
"If we win a national championship in Plymouth," Thornton said, "everything else will be gravy."
For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
