MCC Golf set for another Championship run

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College golf team is hoping the 2016-2017 season will be another banner year for the historic program. The Eagles have built a solid tradition over the past 20 seasons of championship golf at MCC and are hoping that a solid nucleus of returning sophomores will be just the right mix for a banner season. MCC finished last season with an eighth place finish at the NJCAA National Championship Tournament and the team is hoping to make that giant step toward winning the title this season. MCC will enter the 2016 fall season ranked sixth according to the first NJCAA Division II golf poll and the Eagles will be competing in four conference events this fall.

MCC will return one of its biggest contributors from last season in former Lamar School standout Lance Strickland to the squad for the 2016-2017 season. Strickland had one of the more successful seasons as a freshman in MCC golf history and hopes to build off that success in his sophomore campaign. Strickland was named a PING All-American after helping his squad to a top ten finish at the National Tournament and was also selected to the All-Freshman team by the NJCAA. Strickland won two tournaments individually last season for the Eagles and placed second on four different occasions. Strickland was named to nine All-Tournament teams out of 11 tournaments that he competed in as a freshman for the Eagles. The other big highlight during his freshman season was a school-record low round of 64 which he shot during his amazing first season as a member of the MCC golf team.

The MCC golf team will welcome back three returning sophomores from last season and one transfer to the 2016-2017 team. Malachi Spears (Carriere, MS), Payne Hasty (Demopolis, AL), and Rhett Walters (Louin, MS) will look to help bring some more experience to the team this season, while Porsche Kitipongpatana (Bangkok, Thailand) will join the team this season after transferring from Owens Community College in Perrysburg, OH. Kitipongpatana helped Owens finish fifth last season at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament

The Eagles will look to lean on plenty of new faces this season four new freshman members will be a part of the team in 2016-2017. The newest additions to the MCC golf team this season include: Jacob Berry (Braxton, MS), Isaiah Jackson (Golden, MS), Terry Flowers (Meridian, MS), and Brady Stevens (Brandon, MS).

The MCC golf team also excelled in the classroom last season by earning the NJCAA Division II Academic National Championship which marked the second straight season that the program received that particular honor. MCC opened the 2016 fall season with a third place finish at the MACJC Event #1 at Wolf Hollow Club in Wesson, MS over the weekend. MCC finished with a final team score of 589 (13-over par) which was ten strokes behind Copiah-Lincoln Community College who finished second overall. Mississippi Gulf Coast won the overall tournament title with a 569 (7-under par) to grab the first conference victory of the fall season in the MACJC.

Freshman Isaiah Jackson was the top performer in the first tournament for the Eagles by placing fourth with a score of 143 (1-under par), while sophomore Lance Strickland finished in a fifth place tie with a two-day total of 144 which was at even-par. Freshman Jacob Berry finished tied for 10^th with a score of 147 (3-over par) and Brady Stevens played as an individual with a final score of 148 (4-over par) which was good enough for a tie in 13^th position.

MCC will return to action September 25-26 by participating in the MACJC Event #2 at North Creek Golf Course in Southaven, MS which will be hosted by Northwest Mississippi Community College.