No. 1 MGCCC moves up 3 spots in Florida
No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast played better in its final round of the Titan Winter Invitational, moving up three places with the third-best round Tuesday.
The Bulldogs finished tied for sixth with fellow NJCAA Division II member Murray State, 26 shots behind tournament-winner Central Alabama.
"We had a lot of good things going, and we could've probably finished a little bit better on the back end," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "Jayden had one of the better rounds of the day."
Jayden Owensby (Fr., Hernando/Hernando) surged 14 spots up the leaderboard to get into a fifth-place tie and earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team. He had the only even-par round Tuesday at Suntree Country Club, finishing at 8-over 224, five behind medalist Vedant Sirohi of NAIA Webber International.
Calhoun, the only other NJCAA Division II squad in the 13-team field, was 28 shots behind Gulf Coast and No. 5 Murray State.
"We were able to get some rust off starting the semester," Thornton said. "It was about figuring out how to play a championship-level golf course in less-than-ideal conditions. It was really windy during that first day, and then it really picked up again today. It was very cold after that cold front moved through. I thought today was as hard as it could possibly play. For us to stay in those rounds and even have a couple guys finish well, it's a lot of positives as we move forward to conference play. I'm really excited to get back home and get to work."
The Bulldogs play Feb. 9-10 in the Pearl River Invitational, the first MACCC event of 2026. It will be played at Diamondhead Country Club.
Team scores |
|
| Team | Score |
|---|---|
| 1. Central Alabama | 298-304-299-—901 (+37) |
| 2. Keiser | 302-293-307-—902 (+38) |
| 3. Webber International | 300-298-311-—909 (+45) |
| 4. Eastern Florida State | 292-307-317-—916 (+52) |
| 5. Palm Beach State | 305-297-322-—924 (+60) |
| T6. Gulf Coast | 308-310-309-—927 (+63) |
| T6. Murray State | 312-300-315-—927 (+63) |
| 8. Wallace | 306-314-309-—929 (+65) |
| T9. St. Thomas | 302-315-313-—930 (+66) |
| T9. Southeastern | 309-299-322-—930 (+66) |
| 11. Southern Union | 314-311-321-—946 (+82) |
| 12. Calhoun | 320-306-329-—955 (+91) |
| 13. Wallace State | 347-327-319-—993 (+129) |
MGCCC scores |
|
| Player | Scores |
|---|---|
| T5. Jayden Owensby | 75-77-72—224 (+8) |
| T27. Paul Hoefer | 77-75-81—233 (+17) |
| T33. Cal Wier | 75-77-83—235 (+19) |
| T46. Craig Bullock | 83-81-76—240 (+24) |
| T50. Matthew Bond | 81-81-80—242 (+26) |
| T64. Noah Peters (Ind.) | 83-84-87—254 (+38) |
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
