No. 1 Bulldogs tee back off Monday
No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast gets the spring half of its golf schedule teed off Monday when the Bulldogs play in the Titan Winter Invitational.
Gulf Coast headed to Melbourne, Fla., on Friday and have been a couple of days of warm-weather practice in ahead of the 54-hole event at the Suntree Country Club.
"We're swinging it well, all things considered," Bulldogs coach Brad Thornton said. "You get back in January and don't expect to lose almost an entire week because of snow in South Mississippi. They worked really hard, and we were able to get out on the course a good bit the last week. We're getting the competitive juices flowing in qualifying."
The 14-team field has not just the defending NJCAA Division II national champs in Gulf Coast, but also New Mexico, the D-I champs. They're ranked seventh in Clippd's National Collegiate Golf Rankings, and fourth-ranked Central Alabama is also in the field.
The Bulldogs are the only D-II team at Melbourne, but eight of the top 25 in the D-I rankings are there, as well as Southeastern University. It's 24th in the NAIA rankings, with 37th-ranked Webber International also competing.
John Mark Mills (So., Pontotoc/Mike Bender Golf Academy), Peyton Russell (So., Gautier/Gautier), Stanley Campbell (So., London, England/Essex Golf College), Ludvig Behring (So., Sollentuna, Sweden/Osterakers Gymnasium) and Harlan Yerger (Fr., Oxford/Oxford) form the Bulldogs' five-man roster.
"The weather is great, and the golf course is in phenomenal shape," Thornton said. "I'm really excited to get back into the swing of things come tomorrow morning. We were able to get out in a little bit warmer weather. Course conditions are a little bit more conducive to what we're used to. Everything is greening up down here."
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
