The MCC Golf team finishes 8th at NJCAA Golf National Tournament.
"We fought through tough conditions and a really hard course to move up three places on the final day."
PLYMOUTH, IN - The MCC Golf team finishes 8th at NJCAA Golf National Tournament.
Swan Lake Golf Club in Plymouth, IN, proved to be a daunting course for The Eagles. At the end of the first round, the Eagles found themselves in 12th place, 22 strokes out of 1st. Day 2 appeared to be much of the same as the Eagles shot 4 strokes worse and fell into 13th place, 49 strokes out of first.
Day 3 for the Eagles is where things started to turn in their favor. Sophomore Presley Wade posted the first under-par round for the Eagles with a 71 and moved the Eagles up 3 spots into 11th. Wade's play was good enough to lead the Eagles and claim 2nd team All-American and a spot on the 2nd team All-Tournament Team.
Head Coach Ronnie Key said, " We got "Natty Fever" and tried to play too perfect the first two days. Once we relaxed and played our game, we played much better." Key added, " I am so proud of this team for continuing to overcome adversity this season. We fought through tough conditions and a really hard course to move up three places on the final day."
When the dust settled on the NJCAA DII National Tournament, the Eagles had moved up 3 more spots into 8th place. This marks MCC's fifth top-ten finish in five years. Key said, "This team was like family to me during a very trying year, and I will always hold them dear to my heart because of it."
MCC finished four spots ahead of Region 23 foe and in-state rival Mississippi Gulf Coast, who ended at 12th.
Coach Key said, "Presley played great and deserved the All-American status. These sophomores will be truly be missed."
Key added, "I'd like to thank Dr. Huebner, Sander Atkinson, MCC, and all who have supported our program this year. There's no way we could have done this without a high level of support."
Team Scores
1. Parkland College 293-283-298-294—1168 (+16)
2. South Mountain 287-286-302-295—1170 (+18)
3. Glendale 300 289-296-299—1184 (+32)
4. Iowa Central 288-295-301-309—1193 (+41)
5. Kirkwood 293-294-315-305—1207 (+55)
6. Tyler 302-300-311-302—1215 (+63)
7. Des Moines Area 304-310-300-303—1217 (+65)
8. Meridian 309-313-302-299—1223 (+71)
9. Southeast 297-309-313-308—1227 (+75)
10. Walters State 302-309-315-307—1233 (+81)
11. Grand Rapids 294-310-310-321—1235 (+83)
12. MS Gulf Coast 303-309-310-320—1242 (+90)
13. Oakland 320-313-309-308—1250 (+98)
14. Illinois Valley 319-308-317-309—1253 (+101)
15. Rend Lake 315-317-325-298—1255 (+103)
16. Abraham Baldwin 310-312-331-308—1261 (+109)
17. Seminole State 311-322-322-314—1269 (+117)
18. Bryant and Stratton 324-326-335-311—1296 (+144)
19. Muskegon 334-338-336-333—1341 (+189)
MCC Individual Scores
T15. Presley Wade 72-79-71-76 ---298
T37. Ethan Dyess 79-75-77-75---305
T59. Michael Fain 77-81-79-73---310
T61. Luke Yokum 81-78-81-75---315
T71. Diego Leslie 83-84-75-77---319