North Central Missouri College men's golf competed in their final fall event on October 29-30 in Gulfport, MS. The Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Fall Invite was a 36-hole event contested at the Windance Country Club. The Pirates, with a total team score of +47, placed 9th out of 13 teams. "What a great tournament that we were able to be a part of; it had the feel of a National Championship minus a couple teams. A huge thanks again to Coach Tommy Snell for giving us the opportunity to compete," commented Coach Sager.
The course and the competition both posed challenges to the Pirates. In the event, 7 of the top 14 teams in NJCAA Division II national scoring were in attendance plus #16th ranked NJCAA Division I program John A. Logan, who won the event at +16.
Individually, here is how the Pirates finished.
T20 Lewis Hopkinson +8
T29 Scott Swayne +10
T38 Jasper van der Zon +13
T47 James Gardner +16
T49 Cody Glenn +17
"I sound like a broken record each week. Again, we did a lot of things right, but all that matters at the end of the day is your score and we didn't score our ball," stated Sager.
The Pirates now move into their offseason work to prepare for the spring season. "I'm going to put this offseason on the guys. They have a lot of tools right here on campus to improve their golf and their fitness. We don't need to reinvent the wheel; we just need each guy to find a way to shave two or three strokes," Sager explained.
The first spring event for the Pirates will be in late February. At the end of a challenging spring schedule, the Pirates will look to peak at the NJCAA District event, held in Texas, and hopefully the national tournament. Sager concluded, "The new target is the first of May. The team that wins our District will likely have a shot at winning a National Championship. It'll be a true test of southern style golf."