Indians finish sixth in East Mississippi Invitational

Indians finish sixth in East Mississippi Invitational
Adam Gore/ICC Sports Information

STARKVILLE, MS – The Indians rebounded from a disastrous start on Sunday play of the East Mississippi Invitational to grab a little momentum heading towards the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College (MACJ) State Championship Tournament.

"This wasn't our best outing of the season," said ICC head coach David Rather. "I was proud to see how the guys bounce back from a not-so-great opening-round scores to post some strong final-round numbers today."

The bright spot of the tournament came from Dustin Poole, who carded an opening-round 79 and finished the tournament tied for 23rd with a 77 on the final day for a 153 for the tournament.

"Dustin played the round of golf he knew he could play coming into the season," said Rather. "Hopefully he can stay that level of play going into the state tournament."

John Michael Park finished tied for 36th after carding a 165 (83-82) while Matt Belk rebounded from an opening-round 86 to turn in a final-round 80 to finish T39 with a 166. Chaz Robinson finished alone at 45th with a 170 (87-83).

The biggest turnaround of the tournament belonged to Warren Smith, who ran into trouble and carded an opening-round 93 but rallied for a final-round 73 to finish T46 with a 172.

"Warren let the mental side of the game get the best of him on Sunday, but he came out with a much better frame of mind on Monday and it showed on the scorecard," said Rather.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College won the tournament with a 589 with Marcus Fox taking home medalist honors (72-70-142).