Gulf Coast golfers aiming for 9th straight region crown

No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast has won eight straight golf Region 23 championships. That kind of success can breed two competing dynamics: confidence and complacency.

The Bulldogs will be trying to extend that streak to nine starting Monday at Back Acres Country Club in Senatobia.

"In golf, confidence is everything," Gulf Coast coach Tommy Snell said. "You have to be confident when you play because it's such an individual sports. It's such a fragile sport."

Gulf Coast's five-man team of Grant Motter, Phillip Hickam, George Kawell, Colin Troxler and Jonathon Newman won the state championship by 12 shots, with Motter defending his title by seven strokes.

The Bulldogs will join Copiah-Lincoln, Meridian, East Central and host Northwest at for the two-day event. Only one team advances to the NJCAA Division II Tournament, to be played May 24-27 in Plymouth, Ind.

The earlier tournament that was to be played in Senatobia was canceled, so the visiting teams haven't played there this year.

"We played it last year, so the three sophomores have seen it," Snell said. "We'll get some good practice in, so that's all we need."

Gulf Coast planned practice rounds Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

A long line of golfers has built the Bulldogs program to its current status. The Bulldogs are second in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek NJCAA Division II Coaches Poll and the Golfstat computer rankings.

"It just means we've built a program where people want to play," Snell said. "It's a great environment because the administration has backed us. It's a testament to everybody involved, not just the players and the coach. It's the school, the facilities and everything."