EMCC Lions ready for men’s golf season opener under first-year head coach Mark Furnari

SCOOBA – Under the guidance of first-year head coach Mark Furnari, the East Mississippi Community College men's golf team is set to begin fall competition this week (Aug. 25-26) at the Ranger Classic hosted by Northwest Mississippi Community College. Golf action is set to take place Monday and Tuesday at Kirkwood National Golf Club in Holly Springs.

In his first season in a head coaching capacity, Furnari is a Caledonia High School product who spent his collegiate career competing and most recently serving as a graduate assistant for head golf coach Benji Williams at the Mississippi University for Women (The W) in Columbus.

"I am very proud with how our first few practices have gone. The guys came in ready to compete and they've done just that," Furnari said.

EMCC's debut tournament under Furnari's guidance will feature a traveling squad comprised of a pair of returning sophomores, three freshmen, and a sophomore transfer, including four newcomers in the Lions' designated lineup. Joining former Amory High School standout Ace Rock will be Itawamba Community College transfer Watkins Dumas (Starkville HS), sophomore returner Lawson Burton (Itawamba Agricultural HS), as well as former Kent Golf College teammates Louis Couldridge and Ewan Munday from England. Returner Pelayo Castillo Alonso, from Spain, will compete as an individual for the Lions in the fall opener.

Burton and Castillo were regulars in EMCC's lineup a year ago, while Dumas led the ICC Indians in scoring average as a freshman.

"Our freshmen are showing a lot of potential. Ace Rock has definitely shown that he is ready for the moment and has shined thus far," Furnari added. "All the guys have been talking about as a group to this point is winning a tournament, and that is a mentality I like to see in them."

Joining EMCC and host Northwest Mississippi in the season's first MACCC men's golf event will be conference foes Copiah-Lincoln, East Central, Hinds, Jones, Meridian, Northeast Mississippi, Pearl River and Southwest Mississippi along with Calhoun CC from Alabama.