Another test, same goal for No. 4 Bulldogs
PERKINSTON — No. 4 Mississippi Gulf Coast is gearing up for another NJCAA Gulf South Tournament, an event the Bulldogs have dominated for almost a generation.
Six teams will compete at Castlewoods Country Club in Brandon starting Monday. It's a 54-hole event that feeds into the NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship, which will be played next month in Indiana.
"We're lucky. It's very similar to a course like Grand Bear, another Jack Nicholas design," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "It's got a few more houses and things like that, but there are wide fairways, pretty good green complexes. With the weather possibly coming in this week, who knows the conditions, but I heard it's in great shape right now."
Gulf Coast has won 16 of the last 17 region/district tournaments, including the last seven. The Bulldogs beat Jones by 13 shots two weeks ago for the MACCC championship. No. 8 Meridian was another three shots back. Those teams will be joined by East Central, host Hinds and Northeast Mississippi, as well as six individuals from teams that didn't qualify.
Live scoring this week will be available at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/244015/scoring/team.
Thornton is bringing the same five starters that won the program's fourth-straight conference title: Jayden Owensby (Fr., Hernando/Hernando), Paul Hoefer (Fr., Heidelberg, Germany/Kurpfalzgymnasium Mannheim), Cal Wier (Fr., Hernando/Lewisburg), Matthew Bond (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) and Logan Jensen (Fr., Diamondhead/Hancock). Jensen beat Hoefer by one shot to win the individual title. Noah Peters (Fr., London, England/Croxley Dane's School) will be the substitute.
"We're just going to look forward to trying to focus on what we worked on this week, and come out with a win," said Thornton.
The biggest difference at the district tournament will be the extra round. There is rain in the forecast in Brandon over the final two days, but the event is scheduled for 54 holes.
"It gives the better teams time to rise to the top," Thornton said. "You don't feel like a bad start or an off round in the middle, it's not too detrimental. You can really focus on patience, and it resembles the national championship a lot more."
The top two teams from the tournament will automatically qualify for the NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship, which starts May 19 in Plymouth, Ind. There will also be six at-large berths awarded from across the country, with the Clippd National Collegiate Golf Rankings being the criteria.
Gulf Coast was ranked first in those rankings last week, with Meridian 10th.
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
