EMCC Lions post second straight 10th-place team finish to open fall men’s golf season
The East Mississippi Community College men’s golf team placed 10th earlier this week in the Northeast Invitational played at Shiloh Ridge. The two-day conference event, hosted by Northeast Mississippi Community College, was played Monday and Tuesday in Corinth.
CORINTH – The East Mississippi Community College men's golf team placed 10th earlier this week in the Northeast Invitational played at Shiloh Ridge. The two-day conference event, hosted by Northeast Mississippi Community College, was played Monday and Tuesday in Corinth.
The EMCC Lions were just five shots out of sixth place following Monday's opening-round 303. They followed with a 309 the next day to finish the tournament with a two-day total of 612.
Placing 10th as a team for the second time in as many tournaments to begin the 2025-26 season, EMCC was led this week by freshman Ace Rock (Amory, MS/Amory HS), who finished 26th overall following rounds of 73 and 75 for a 4-over-par total of 148.
Competing as an individual participant this week, EMCC sophomore Bryce Shivers (Prentiss, MS/Prentiss Christian School) tied for 34th place overall with a 151 total after opening the tournament with a 2-over-par 74 and adding a 77 on Tuesday.
Fellow sophomore Pelayo Castillo (Oviedo, Spain), who paced the Lions during their fall opener played at Kirkwood National in Holly Springs, carded a pair of 4-over-par 76s to tie for 37th place overall this week.
ICC transfer Watkins Dumas (Starkville, MS/Starkville HS) and freshman Ewan Munday (Kent, England) tied for 45th and 50th place, respectively, with composite scores of 155 (77-78) and 157 (77-80) following 77s during first-round action.
Sophomore Lawson Burton (Fulton, MS/Itawamba Agricultural HS) rounded out EMCC's lineup at the NEMCC-hosted tournament, but he was disqualified during second-round play for a misunderstanding of the rules after carding an 81 on Monday.
Meridian Community College (283-272—555) fired a 21-under-par 555 to edge two-time defending national champion Mississippi Gulf Coast (286-270—556) by a single shot to snap the Bulldogs' MACCC winning streak that had extended back to the 2022 MACCC Championship. Jones College (280-290—570) and Hinds (287-286—573) placed third and fourth, respectively.
Individual medalist honors went to Meridian's Ayers Mathis (67-66—133) with an 11-under-par 133 total that was one shot better than runner-up Leo Griesheimer (66-68—134) of Copiah-Lincoln and a pair of strokes ahead of MGCCC's Paul Hoefer (67-68—135).
Coach Mark Furnari's EMCC Lions are slated to compete next at the Jim Redgate Invitational, Oct. 6-7, hosted by Meridian CC at Briarwood Golf Club.