MCC Golf to host annual Fall Invitational at Briarwood CC

(MERIDIAN) – The Meridian Community College Eagle golf team returns to competition on Monday, Sept. 24 in the MCC/Rush Fall Invitational. The one day, 36-hole event is being hosted by MCC and will take place at Briarwood Country Club.

The Eagles are coming off a record setting year, which included a third place finish in the 2007 NJCAA Div. II men’s golf national championship. MCC recently posted back-to-back top-three finishes in their season opening events, at NW Shoals (AL) and John A. Logan (IL).

“Our first tournament round this year tied our lowest score from all of last season (284), and we had a pretty strong year last season,” said MCC head coach Sean Covich.

“But ever since then we’ve been steadily shooting higher, so hopefully playing at one of our home courses (Briarwood) will help correct that trend.”

Copiah-Lincoln Community College, East Central Community College, Northeast Mississippi Community College, Pearl River Community College and arch-rival Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College will join MCC in the field this week at Briarwood.

This week’s tournament will be MCC’s only home event in the fall. The Green and White will participate in six fall events, including two in Alabama, one in Illinois and one in Florida.

The format for the event will be five players competing and counting the lowest four scores turned in after each round. Freshmen Clay Bounds, John Everett and Joe Konieczny will join sophomores Bryant Self and Curt Sparks to highlight the starters on MCC’s “Green” team. The trio of Bounds, Konieczny and Self have earned All Tournament Team honors in their first two events this fall.

Local players-Michael Burton, Ryan Hill, Josh Ivy, and Jarrod Moulds will join Alabama-native Jarrod Lemaster to make up the MCC “White” team. Both Ivy and Lemaster were starters on MCC’s National Championship Tournament team in May of 2007.

The Eagles won last years MCC/Rush Fall Invitational by 31 strokes over Gulf Coast with a score of 583 (299-284). Joshua Ivy won medalist honors with a 2-under par 142 (74-68).

Play will begin at 8:00 AM with a shotgun start. First place and second place teams will be awarded along with individual medalist honors and five all tournament team awards.