MERIDIAN – The Northwest Mississippi Community College men's golf team had a successful first day at the Jim Redgate Invitational on Monday, finishing the first 36 holes in a tie for third place at Briarwood Golf Club with a one-under team score that placed them even with East Central Community College and just four strokes back of Meridian Community College.
The Rangers paired a 288 on the first 18 with a 287 on the second, showing consistency in the opening MACCC tournament of the season, and placing four golfers in the top 15 after the opening day.
Caesar Ingendorf was the highlight of the day, playing a nearly perfect opening round with only one bogey, adding a pair of birdies and an eagle on the par four second hole to finish with a 69. That was paired with another strong round in his second 18, finishing with five birdies to counter three bogeys on the way to a 70 and a five-under first day, placing him fifth in the field.
Back of the sophomore is fellow second-year Ranger Cole Elander, whose opening round of 71 was highlighted by him playing the par-fives to two-under par, picking up five birdies on the round. His second round was also impressive, starting off with a birdie on his opening hole and playing the front nine four-under, including an eagle on the par-five fourth for an 18-hole total of 69 and a 36-hole score of four-under on the day, with a spot in seventh by himself.
The third Ranger on the scoring team to finish under par was Atharv Sharma, who had a consistent first round with three bogeys and three pars, playing the front nine one-under to end with momentum after making his turn at one-over. That carried into his back nine, where the German sophomore again used the front nine as his springboard, birdieing three of the last eight holes for a 70 to post a two-under 36-hole total. That would move him into the top ten in the field.
One other Ranger added his name to the list of players under par, with Mac Stacy impressing as an independent on the course. He also played a consistent round, going one-under on the first 18 thanks to four birdies that countered three bogeys, taking advantage of the par-fives with to the tune of three-under par. He mirrored that success in the second 18, picking up another three birdies on the par-fives on the way to an even 72 and a one-under finish on the day, sitting in a tie for 13th in the field.
The final two team scores for the Rangers were from Davis Wilkins, who would finish at four-over on the first 18 before going in with a six-over 78 after the second round, which was only marred by a rough start that had him at four-over after the opening three holes. Drew Tuccio also struggled throughout the day, finishing at 18-over after 36 holes, only managing three birdies on the day and having double bogeys or worse on six holes.
The tournament field is being led by Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, which established its lead early and held it with a team score of 27-under par. That gave them a 22-stroke lead over host Meridian, who bounced back from a seven-over first round to shoot 12-under on the second 18 to leapfrog both the Rangers and East Central into second.
Fifth place is being held by Northeast Mississippi Community College at 12-over, 13 strokes back of the Rangers, and both Hinds Community College and Jones College sit in a tie for sixth at 14 over par.
On the individual side, the top three spots are held by MGCCC, with Ingendorf five strokes back of Logan Jensen, who leads at 10-under.
Action will resume from Briarcrest Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. in a shotgun start. Northwest will see Sharma and Ingendorf teeing off on the ninth hole, with Elander leading off on the 10th, Tuccio on the 11th, and Wilkins on the 12th. Stacey will tee off on the 16th hole to close out the Rangers in the competition.
Keep up with Northwest men's and women's golf by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following along on social media accounts.
