No. 9 Mississippi Gulf Coast didn’t necessarily finish off its two days at the prestigious Folds of Honor Challenge in Allendale, Mich., the way the Bulldogs would have wanted, but there were plenty of things they got accomplished.

 

They dropped out of a fifth-place tie after 36 holes and wound up seventh, but Chase Kaiser (So., Natchez/Cathedral) was fantastic and the team learned a lot.

 

“It was really the same story as yesterday,” Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. “It’s just a tough golf course. It really is. You could see that today where 1-under was the lowest round of the day. I could not have been more proud of Chase. That’s one of the better rounds of golf I’ve seen at the junior college level.”

 

Kaiser shot 70 at The Meadows. After a first-round 80, he shot 1-over on the rugged course to finish tied for 11^th. He was paired with Keiser’s Jakob Stavang Stubhaug, the No. 1-ranked player in NAIA according to Golfstat, and beat him by six shots.

 

“He just stayed within himself,” Thornton said. “He had a good day ball-striking. He three-putted the first hole, and then after that he settled down and didn’t miss many shots on what was the most difficult golf course we’ll play all year.”

 

Host Grand Valley State finished 4-under to beat Findlay by 21 shots. Gulf Coast finished 58-over, but 75 shots ahead of the only other NJCAA team in the field. The Bulldogs were five shots back of Keiser, which is the defending NAIA champion and ranked first in the country.

 

Andrew Zielinski (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) finished tied for 19^th, and Jackson Wise was tied for 33^rd.

 

Gulf Coast will point the van toward Plymouth, Ind., Wednesday to play at the site of May’s NJCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championship on the way back home. Gulf Coast plays in the third MACCC event of the season on Monday. The two-day Meridian Fall Invitational will be played at Briarwood Golf Club.

 

“We learned a lot from this week that’s going to help as we prepare for nationals,” Thornton said. “Obviously we’re headed down to Swan Lake tomorrow to practice there on the way back. I’m high-spirited because I know our kids got what they needed out of this week, not necessarily from the results. The results were nowhere near what we can do with our potential, but at the same time, those adjustments need to be made in order to be successful in the spring.”

 

Team Scores

Team                                    Score

1. Grand Valley State             283-278-287—848 (-4)
2. Findlay                        289-287-293—869 (+17)
3. South Carolina Beaufort     303-299-292—894 (+42)
4. Lee                            301-291-303—895 (+43)
5. Keiser                         298-299-304—901 (+49)
6. Hope                           301-303-302—906 (+54)
7. Gulf Coast                          306-296-308—910 (+58)
8. Lawrence Tech                   298-315-309—922 (+70)
9. Grand View                        308-305-318—931 (+79)
10. Muskegon CC                  323-321-341—985 (+133)

 

MGCCC Scores

Player                                   Score

T11. Chase Kaiser                  80-73-70—223 (+10)

19. Andrew Zielinski              74-72-79—225 (+12)

T33. Jackson Wise                 76-78-78—232 (+19)

T43. Will Burnham                82-73-81—236 (+23)

T47. Alessio Graziani             76-78-83—237 (+24)

 

For more information on MGCCC’s 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.