Central Ala. wins MCC Invitational

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Sept. 24, 2003
The Meridian Community College golf team's game didn't improve like the playing conditions on the links in the final day of the MCC Eagle Fall Invitational.
The Eagles split into two squads, white and green, for the two-day tournament at Briarwood Country Club, and the green squad, which entered the day tied for second, finished in fifth place shooting 301-306 607 on Tuesday. The White team ended the 10-team tourney in last place carding a 310-324 634.
"We had a decent day (Monday), with the weather conditions like they were, it was a pretty solid day for the green team," said MCC golf coach Lou Hart. "We didn't finish as well as I would have liked. We were lucky we got good weather (Tuesday)."
Central Alabama finished on top of the leaderboard hitting a two-day total of 300-294 594, and the University of Mobile golfers took second place with a 300-298 589.
Faulkner came in third with a 301-302 603, and Darton finished fourth with a 306-298604.
Northwest Shoals came in sixth with a 308-303 611; Hinds Community College notched a seventh place finish with a 306-308614; Gulf Coast Community College finished eighth with a 311-306 617; and Andrew College ended in ninth with a 307-324631.
Heavy rain on Sunday left the course damp for the opening day of the tournament, but players said the links played better on the final day.
"The course dried out well, and we played the ball down (Tuesday)," said MCC golfer Matthew Shoemaker, who recorded a team best 77-71 148 playing with the green squad. "We definitely have some work to do as a team. We need to cut out some big numbers and remember that every shot counts. It was the first tournament of the year, and we have something to build on."
The rest of the Eagle golfers couldn't take advantage of the nicer course conditions on the final day.
On the green squad Joel Myrick carded a 75-77 152; Smitty Smith, who recorded a 74 on the first day, had a 79 on day two for a tournament final of 153; Chad Hopkins recorded a 75-79153; and Winston Powell ended the tournament with a 77-82159.
On the white squad, Clay Jarrell had a 76-75 151; Caleb Davis recorded a 75-79 154; Kyle Murray finished with a 78-84 162; and Jason Hailey ended the tourney carding an 81-86167.
"We had some bright spots," Hart said. "I'm expecting this team to do a lot better by the end of this semester and hopefully by the end of next semester. I have a lot of talent on this team. They are young, and I really think they will take this and build on and do better."
Central Alabama's Boyd Dobbyn earned medalist honors, scoring a tournament-low 73-71 144.
All-tournament team members included Mobile's Kenny Smith (76-69 145), Darton's Banks Robinson (75-70 145), Mobile's Matt Drinkard (73-73 146), Central Alabama's Bart Barnes (72-74 146) and Gulf Coast's Ciam Daly (74-73 147).