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Coach Dale Peay’s EMCC Lions made their spring golf debut by grabbing third-place team honors Monday at The Oaks Golf Club in Pass Christian.
Coach Dale Peay’s EMCC Lions carded a first-round 305 on Sunday to hold a 4-stroke lead over four-time defending NJCAA Region 23 champion Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The Bulldogs, along with Copiah-Lincoln CC, bounced back Monday with identical 301 team scores, while EMCC lost the lead with a second-day score of 310. MGCCC and Co-Lin finished atop the team leader board at 610 and 611, respectively, slightly ahead of the Lions’ 615 composite total.
Making their successful collegiate debuts for East Mississippi, newcomers Miles Respess and Nick Davis placed third and fourth, respectively, among the tournament’s individual leaders. Respess, of Paragould, Ark., stood second following Sunday’s even-par 72 but fell a notch to third after his 78 in Monday’s final round. Davis, last year’s Alabama Class 4A state runner-up for Springville High School, followed a stroke behind his teammate with rounds of 74 and 77.
Reigning MACJC stroke average leader and 2011 Hubert Tucker Award recipient, sophomore Weston Wallace also earned a Top 10 finish for the Lions. The former Northwest Rankin product shaved four strokes off his opening-round 80 to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place with a 156 (80-76) composite score.
Co-Lin’s Keaton Stamps collected individual medalist honors with a two-day score of 147 (71-76) to hold off teammate Bull Mixon (75-73—148) on the final day of the Mississippi Gulf Coast-hosted event.
EMCC sophomore Andrew Spiers, of Pearl River Central High School, tied for 12th individually with a pair of 79s. Rounding out the scorecard for the Lions and tying for 24th place overall were Caledonia’s Zac Taylor (85-81—166) and Tyler Slocum (78-88—166). Slocum, a sophomore from DeSoto Central High School, competed as an individual for East Mississippi.
The MACJC’s second spring golf event takes place this weekend (March 3-4) at the Eagle Ridge Golf Course in Raymond. The two-day tournament will be hosted by Hinds Community College.