MERIDIAN – The Northwest Mississippi Community College men's golf team picked up one of their best finishes in recent history in the opening MACCC championship at Briarwood Golf Club, finishing in fourth with a team score of nine-over, and placing three individuals in the top fifteen.

Northwest finished just eight strokes out of second place, behind East Central Community College at one-over, and Meridian Community College took third, finishing at two-over through 54 holes. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College was the top-finishing team, running away from the field with a 33-under team score and the top three individual finishers.

"It's definitely a step in the right direction," Head Coach Adam Payne said. "We play in an extremely tough conference, and I thought the first two days we played really well. We didn't play the par fives great, just didn't capitalize on that on day one. But I thought we played well; we just didn't chip and putt as well as we needed to in order to move up the leaderboard."

The Rangers were paced by another strong performance from Cole Elander, who finished in sixth place as an individual with a five-under, finishing under par on all three days, including a one-under 71 on the final day. Much like his opening round, it was nearly a flawless 18 holes, with his only bogey coming on the 18^th and a pair of birdies on the par five 4^th and 15^th.

"Cole has been playing well," Payne said. "He is a practice warrior, and he has been steady, doing his thing and working out. He just plays a simple game: hit it straight, and putt and chip. He's in a great mind space, and I think he is going to continue to play well."

Caesar Ingendorf finished just one stroke back of Elander, putting down a four-under for the tournament after going one-over on the final day, finishing in seventh place by himself. His day got off to a great start, birdieing his opening hole, and he carded three birdies on the day, but four bogeys on the back nine kept him from being able to capitalize fully.

"I thought he really played well on Monday, but he just didn't capitalize on some opportunities," Payne said. "Today he was pressing a little bit in some areas that might have cost him, but overall, he has been playing great, and there is a lot to take away from this event."

With the same kind of day, just in reverse, Atharv Sharma finished the tournament at one-under, also playing the final day to the tune of a 73 for a one-over score. His front nine was where tough holes came, going three over before putting down a two-under on the back nine with birdies on the 13^th, 15^th, and 18^th holes.

"Atharv struck the ball well and put himself in a lot of good positions to score. His putter wasn't as hot as it needed to be, but he put himself in a lot of opportunities, and that's the main thing. The ball striking and decision-making were there; we just have to capitalize better moving forward."

Mac Stacey was playing as an independent, but he put together a very strong tournament as a whole, finishing in a tie for 22^nd after posting a 77 on the final day. He had a pair of birdies early, but his back nine was up and down, with five bogeys to go along with them, and he carded a pair of doubles along the way. He still had a five-over on the day for his best finish as a collegiate golfer.

"Mac had actually qualified in our top five, but it being the first road trip as a freshman, I was a little nervous about playing him in that spot, so I put him in as an individual, and he played fabulous. He actually led the whole team in the number of birdies that he made. I thought he did extremely well, and now we just have to capitalize on that momentum."

Wrapping up the tournament were Drew Tuccio and Davis Wilkins, finishing in a tie for 63^rd and a tie for 58^th, respectively. Tuccio was able to stay consistent through the tournament, posting a nine-over on the final day with no birdies, but no double-bogeys either, averaging nine-over on each of his three rounds. Wilkins had a bit more trouble with large numbers on a few holes, triple-bogeying a pair and double-bogeying two more, but had par or better on 11 holes on the way to a 12-over, finishing the tournament at 22-over.

The team will look to build on its second-best finish since the return of the program in a MACCC event when they head to the Charles Cooper Classic, hosted by Gulf Coast at Windance Country Club in Gulfport on October 26 and 27.

Find more information about the Ranger men's and women's golf teams by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following along on Northwest social media accounts.