MGCCC starts MACJC golf schedule this weekend

Mississippi Gulf Coast will be taking its high national ranking into MACJC play earlier this year.

The state has added a fall schedule to its calendar, with the third-ranked Bulldogs headed to Raymond and Eagle Ridge Golf Course for the two-day event hosted by Hinds, which starts Saturday.

"The main thing it does it allow us to start the spring season later, so we don't have deal with the weather," Gulf Coast coach Tommy Snell said. "This is the first year for it. Now, we don't have to miss as much school in a concentrated time (in the spring)."

Snell, who was inducted into the NJCAA Men's Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame earlier this year, has a stacked team returning. Returning talent like Phillip Hickam and Grant Motter, who tied for NJCAA tournament runners-up in the spring, earned the Bulldogs the high ranking in the Bushnell Golfweek Preseason NJCAA Division II Coaches Poll.

Snell said those two and fellow sophomores Tyler Schingle, Jesse Sunderman, George Kawell and Connor Crabbe can finish in the top five of any tournament. With only five spots on the team each week, and a talented freshman class including Colin Troxler, Wyatt Adkison, Jonathan Newman and Brandon Fontenot, just making the travel squad will be a big accomplishment.

"We've probably got one of the deepest teams we've ever had," said Snell.

The talent in the MACJC looks to be getting better, too, meaning there's lots of work to do for Gulf Coast, which has won the last eight Region 23 championships.

"Every school has good players on it," Snell said. "Alex Tull, who finished 13th last year at nationals, is back at Northeast. All the schools have signed some good freshmen, on paper. It should be a competitive year."

The MGCCC Fall Invitational will be the fourth and last MACJC of the fall. It's scheduled for Oct. 26-27 at Grand Bear Golf Course in Saucier.