RAYMOND – In the second event of the spring season at the Hinds Invitational, the Northwest men's golf team fired a two-day 651 (326-325) to finish fifth out of 10 teams. | Final Results

Gulf Coast won the event with a two-day 625, edging out Copiah-Lincoln (630), East Central (635) and East Mississippi (637), who rounded out the top five teams. 

"It was pretty chilly and the wind was about 15 mph on day one. It was brutal," volunteer assistant Guy Purdy said. "I was a little disappointed in the way we played, but we're showing improvement. Our short game is what is really hurting us right now, which is what we're going to work on all next week."

Two Rangers finished in the Top 15 individually, led by sophomore Jack Byrd who placed 10th with a two-day 159 (79-80) and sophomore Sam Cooper who finished in a tie for 11th, shooting a 76-84.

Sophomore Chad Cupples showed the biggest improvement during the tournament by improving 11 strokes. Cupples shot an opening day 88 and followed it up with a 77, the fourth-lowest round of the day.

Freshmen Martin Powell (T33, 84-84), Levi Garner (T35, 90-80) and Chris Samsel (T43, 87-89) closed out the list of finishers for the Rangers. 

Northwest returns to the links March 17-18 at the Copiah-Lincoln Invitational at Wolf Hollow.