Bulldogs garner another top-10 finish
PLYMOUTH, Ind. — Mississippi Gulf Coast secured a top-10 finish at the NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship tor the 14th time in the last 16 tournaments Friday, closing out the event with a solid round.
The Bulldogs, who were MACCC and Region 23 champs, shot 9-over at Swan Lake Golf Course to finish in an eighth-place tie. They finished at 48-over.
"These guys showed a lot of mental toughness today," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "It's tough to have a conversation and rally the troops after a poor performance the past three days, but they showed up and played well. These conditions were tough with that setup, like it should be for the last day of a national championship. They posted some really respectable rounds."
Murray State won the championship at 14-over.
Noah Peters (Fr., London, England/Croxley Dane's School), playing for the first time here as a substitute, had Gulf Coast's best round with a 1-over 73. He made four birdies on the first six holes of the back nine.
Jayden Owensby (Fr., Hernando/Hernando) was 2-over, with Matthew Bond (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs), Cal Wier (Fr., Hernando/Lewisburg) and Paul Hoefer (Fr., Heidelberg, Germany/Kurpfalzgymnasium Mannheim) all shooting 75s.
The format of this tournament will change next year. It will start with three days of medal play, and the top eight teams will advance to match play for the national championship.
If the format were in effect this year, the Bulldogs would have been in a playoff for the final spot, giving them a shot to win it all.
"We've got a lot to look forward to next year," Thornton said. "I'm really excited with this class, and we're only losing one. We've got a couple of guys coming in, and a lot of experience. I think this week showed that experience is the key to having success in an event like this."
Live Tournament Scoreboard: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/244655/scoring/team
Team Standings |
|
| Team | Scores |
|---|---|
| 1. Murray State | 288-291-295-293—1167 (+15) |
| 2. Heartland | 295-292-288-299—1174 (+22) |
| 3. South Mountain | 292-303-292-292—1179 (+27) |
| T4. Kirkwood | 292-296-300-297—1185 (+33) |
| T4. Meridian | 292-291-295-307—1185 (+33) |
| 6. Southeast | 288-295-303-300—1186 (+34) |
| 7. Des Moines Area | 303-291-300-305—1199 (+47) |
| T8. Gulf Coast | 295-300-308-297—1200 (+48) |
| T8. Black Hawk | 303-297-303-297—1200 (+48) |
| 10. Northeast | 301-296-310-298—1205 (+53) |
| 11. Illinois Central | 302-294-306-308—1210 (+58) |
| 12. Highland | 303-298-308-302—1211 (+59) |
| 13. Iowa Central | 305-304-307-296—1212 (+60) |
| 14. Shelton State | 308-303-314-296—1221 (+69) |
| 15. Walters State | 318-300-309-298—1225 (+73) |
| 16. Jefferson State | 302-299-314-312—1227 (+75) |
| 17. Wallace | 299-296-319-317—1231 (+79) |
| 18. Mesa | 306-310-306-311—1233 (+81) |
| 19. Roane State | 306-306-318-305—1235 (+83) |
| 20. North Central Missouri | 309-313-313-305—1240 (+88) |
| T21. Hinds | 308-304-319-310—1241 (+89) |
| T21. Calhoun | 312-306-312-311—1241 (+89) |
| 23. Marian-Ancilla | 316-307-322-306—1251 (+99) |
| 24. Mott | 320-317-312-303—1252 (+100) |
MGCCC Scores |
|
| Player | Scores |
|---|---|
| T44. Matthew Bond | 66-80-80-75—301 (+13) |
| T44. Cal Wier | 80-70-76-75—301 (+13) |
| T50. Jayden Owensby | 74-79-75-74—302 (+14) |
| T75. Paul Hoefer | 78-74-83-75—310 (+22) |
| Noah Peters | xx-xx-xx-73—73 (+1) |
| Logan Jensen | 77-77-77-xx—231 (+15) |
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
