Owensby leads No. 1 Gulf Coast charge in Michigan

PHOTO BY ADAM MACKAY/GOLF COACHES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast took a big chunk out of their deficit at the Folds of Honor Challenge on Tuesday, moving into a second-place tie.

The Bulldogs, led by Jayden Owensby, shot 1-under and are tied for second, five back of hosts Grand Valley State at The Meadows in Allendale, Mich.

"We played really well and took advantage of some scoring opportunities today," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "We putted fairly decent as a team and were able to withstand the few mistakes we did make. We responded well to them."

Gulf Coast finds itself at 9-over, tied with Wayne State, like Grand Valley State an NCAA Division II school. The Bulldogs lead the closest NJCAA competitor, Odessa, by six shots. Two other NJCAA Division II teams are more than 40 shots back after 36 holes.

Owensby, a freshman from Hernando, scorched the course with a 4-under 67 to lead three Grand Valley State and one Aurora golfer by four shots. He birdied three of the first five holes and had seven on the day.

"He had a chance to be even lower," Thornton said. "He played an exceptional round of golf today. I'm looking forward to seeing him give it his best effort tomorrow and see if he can close it out."

Paul Hoefer (Fr., Heidelberg, Germany/Kurpfalzgymnasium Mannheim) shot even-par and is tied for 19^th with teammate Cal Wier (Fr., Hernando/Lewisburg) at 4-over. Matthew Bond (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) had a 73 and is tied for 23^rd. 

"As a team, we played much better today," Thornton said. "Even with a slow start and not the greatest finish, it's still really solid golf. We know there's a little bit of room for improvement. We let some shots slip away today, but to put ourselves in that position is nothing to hang your head about."

Grand Valley State is ranked 15^th in the Bushnell Golfweek NCAA Division II Coaches Poll, with four other teams behind the Bulldogs receiving votes. Aurora is 10^th in the NAIA version of the poll, and Odessa is fourth in the NJCAA Division I. 

The 54-hole tournament concludes Wednesday with afternoon tee times for the Bulldogs. Live scoring will be available at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/239979/scoring/team.

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.