No. 3 Bulldogs fall in playoff after comeback
SAUCIER — No. 3 Mississippi Gulf Coast couldn't finish its comeback Tuesday in the final round of its Charles Cooper Classic.
The Bulldogs erased a four-stroke deficit in the final round but wound up tied with No. 5 Murray State after 54 holes. Gulf Coast lost a playoff on the first hole.
"I was most proud of the way they responded from such a poor start Monday morning," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "There wasn't anything we did or didn't do today that really determined the outcome of the golf tournament. We've just gotta get back to practice and work on some things to maybe get off to a better start and not be playing for behind, but it was a great week."
The teams tied at 14-over at Windance Country Club after the Bulldogs tied third-place Central Alabama with the lowest round of the event at 3-under. Gulf Coast trailed Murray State by 12 shots after the first round.
Paul Hoefer (Fr., Heidelberg, Germany/Kurpfalzgymnasium Mannheim) fired a 67 to get to 2-under for the tournament, finishing second. Murray State's Connor Tallentire topped him by eight shots.
"Paul was 7-over par through his first 11 holes in the tournament," Thornton said. "Talk about not getting off to a great start and being able to come back and finish as one of only two guys under par for the entire event, that was some exceptional golf the last 43 holes. I was super proud of him."
Cal Wier (Fr., Hernando/Lewisburg), playing on the B team, finished tied for ninth at 4-over, as did Matthew Bond (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) on the A team.
The tournament was named for Charles Cooper, who was part of the two-man coaching staff for the first Gulf Coast golf team in 1975, and he took over in full in 1979. He coached through 1995. His teams won five state championships and three region titles. Gulf Coast finished fourth, fifth and seventh in the NJCAA Tournament.
Gulf Coast will close out its fall schedule in the Jones College Invitational, which will be played Nov. 10-11 at Laurel Country Club. That will be an MACCC event.
Team scores |
|
| Team | Scores |
|---|---|
| 1. Murray State* | 290-299-289—878 (+14) |
| 2. Gulf Coast | 302-291-285—878 (+14) |
| 3. Central Alabama | 303-294-285—882 (+18) |
| 4. Calhoun | 292-298-300—890 (+26) |
| 5. Jefferson State | 305-292-294—891 (+27) |
| 6. Southern Union | 300-304-294—898 (+34) |
| 7. Jones | 307-296-296—899 (+35) |
| T8. South Mountain | 301-303-298—902 (+38) |
| T8. Northeast Mississippi | 299-304-299—902 (+38) |
| 10. Meridian | 309-299-305—913 (+49) |
| T11. Snead State | 298-305-311—914 (+50) |
| T11. Coastal Alabama-South | 301-309-304—914 (+50) |
| 13. East Central | 305-305-311—921 (+57) |
| 14. Wallace State | 309-313-309—931 (+67) |
| 15. Pearl River | 319-307-318—944 (+80) |
| 16. Copiah-Lincoln | 322-317-328—967 (+103) |
| * — Won on first playoff hole | |
MGCCC scores |
|
| Player | Scores |
|---|---|
| 2. Paul Hoefer | 76-71-67—206 (-2) |
| T9. Cal Wier* | 72-73-75—220 (+4) |
| T9. Matthew Bond | 73-73-74—220 (+4) |
| T13. Craig Bullock | 77-72-72—221 (+5) |
| T23. Jayden Owensby | 76-75-73—224 (+8) |
| T30. Noah Peters | 77-76-73—226 (+10) |
| T66. Braeden Dobbs* | 77-81-76—234 (+18) |
| T67. Logan Jensen* | 78-82-78—238 (+22) |
| 83. Chandon Johnson* | 98-80-93—271 (+55) |
| * — Playing on B team | |
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
