Motter sets sights on next golf goals

PERKINSTON – Grant Motter started playing golf when he was 9 or 10, and ditched football, basketball and soccer around seventh grade to concentrate on the links.

That seems to have been a great decision.

Motter has dominated the 2015 MACJC golf season, winning four of six events. He shot 65 Sunday to surge past the field and well ahead on his way to winning the state golf tournament at Lion Hills Country Club in Columbus.

It would seem obvious that the key to shooting 7-under is to get to 4-under and keep going. But that requires a mentality that not everyone has.

"I just try to keep making birdies," the freshman from Hattiesburg said. "Most kids when they get to 3- or 4- or 5-under, they want to stay there. They don't want to go back. Once you get there, you have to keep playing. You can't play scared."

He and his teammates are preparing for the Region 23 Tournament at Laurel County Club. The winner of the two-day event, which starts Sunday, advances to the NJCAA Tournament in Scottsboro, Ala.

"I think we should win the regional," Motter said. "It's a course that sets up better for us. I think we've got a better team, and our players are just going to do better at it. It's harder, and I think we'll do better at a hard course."

He won this year's Hubert Tucker Award. It's given to the golfer with the lowest scoring average in MACJC play. Motter won it by averaging 70.70 strokes per round, an eye-popping two shots better than his nearest competitor.

Gulf Coast coach Tommy Snell, whose teams have won seven straight region tournaments, said Motter does everything well. Even his misses aren't bad, winding up in places he can get up and down from.

"He's an underrated chipper," Snell said. "I've noticed more than the other kids, he'll keep the ball down and make it roll to the hole, like a professional golfer would do. A lot of kids want to loft it into the air and bring a lot of bad things into play."

Motter says his strengths are straight irons and being long and straight off the tee. He likes what he does with his wedges, but he sees lost strokes on the green that can get his scores even lower.

"I probably make four or five birdies a round, but I miss a bunch," he said, laughing. "There's a lot left out there."

Division I golf programs and signed with Mississippi State, but things there didn't work out. He'll look to sign with another program after his time at Gulf Coast.

He's studying business management, but his goal is to play golf professionally. That's a realistic goal, according to Snell.

Snell uses a quote to motivate his players: The choices we make dictate the life we lead.

"If he works hard, the sky's the limit for him," Snell said. "He's just that talented. He can go wherever he wants to. It's a lot of hard work, even if they're talented."

He enjoys playing on his talented team. Two other teammates, Phillip Hickam and Conner Entriken, were named to the All-MACJC first team. George Kawell was named to the second team.

Motter said if professional golf doesn't work out for him, he'd like to have a job like Snell's. Being a college coach is something he thinks he'd like to do.

 "It's pretty much 17, 18 brothers on a team," Motter said. "It's pretty cool."