MCC golf starts postseason on Monday

Willow Point Golf & Country Club

The Meridian Community College golf team, currently ranked No. 3 in the country, will begin postseason play this week at the NJCAA District IV Championship.

The 54-hole event is being played on Monday and Tuesday at Willow Point Golf & Country Club in Alexander City, AL, and is being hosted by Central Alabama Community College. The Willow Point course measures a very long 7,465 yards and plays to a par 72.

12 teams from seven states are participating, with the top six advancing to Odessa, TX for the NJCAA Division I National Championship in May.

MCC moved up to Division I from Division II in the 2009 season and has finished third (2009) and second (2010) in their only two District IV appearances.

“We have improved every season since moving up to the highest level of NJCAA golf,” said head coach Sean Covich.

“This one will be a challenge. We are playing the No. 1 team (Central Alabama) on their home course for the District Championship, also we need to play solid to secure our spot in the national championship.”

The top three teams in the country are in District IV, they include No.1 Central Alabama, No. 2 Brevard (FL) College and No. 3 MCC. Wallace State (AL) Community College is also in the top ten, at No. 6.

“This is the hardest District to advance from, but if you can win in this league you can win a national championship.”

Defending NJCAA national champion, Brandt Garon, will start in the No. 1 spot for MCC. Garon won his fifth tournament last week as the sophomore defeated 102 players at the Arkansas State Red Wolf Intercollegiate, a NCAA Division I event. The Baton Rouge native shot 9-under par, 66-69 to win by two shots.

Freshman Jake Stirling looks to bounce back this week after a rough showing in Arkansas. The Melbourne, Australia native will start in the No. 2 spot. He has posted 13 rounds of even par or better this season and is tied with Garon for lowest stroke average on the team (72.6).

Sophomore team captain, Clemens Dvorak, will anchor the line-up in the No. 3 spot. Dvorak was recently named MCC’s Male Athlete of the Year, an award based on academic and athlete performance.

Freshman Easton Key, a former Lamar High School standout from Meridian will play in the No. 4 spot. Key shot an opening round 3-under par (69) last week in the ASU Red Wolf Intercollegiate. He shot the lowest round in school history, a 65 (-7) in the fall semester at the Wallace State Fall Invitational.

Rounding out the MCC line-up is sophomore Adam Monsen in the No. 5 spot. Monsen had another under-par preference last week, shooting 4-under (70-70) at the ASU Red Wolf Intercollegiate. He is a two-time medalist for MCC, winning the 2010 Faulkner State Invitational and the 2011 Mississippi-Louisiana College Invitational.

“This, right now, is our best line-up,” said Sean Covich.

“The key to postseason success is not only having talent but getting all five guys peaking at the right time, and I feel like we are.”

MCC will play 36-holes on Monday and the final 18 on Tuesday.