MCC golf team starts season Thursday with new look
The McCook Community College golf team opens the season Thursday at Sterling, Colo., with no returners from a team that finished 16th in the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament in May.
Not only will five freshmen start the season for MCC, major restructuring will eliminate the region's season-long team points standings. MCC Coach Tyler Loop – in his 11th year coaching the team – said that Region IX had been unique with its points setup, but the NJCAA is looking to unify the standards.
"Since I started coaching, every week was a big tournament with points at stake, and you'd try to get as many points as you could and at the end of the year, whoever earned the most points won our region," Loop said.
Region IX, which includes men's golf teams from MCC, Northeastern Junior College, Eastern Wyoming, Central Wyoming, Otero and Lamar, was then grouped into a district with three Region I schools in Arizona: Pima, Estrella Mountain and Eastern Arizona.
"Those are not exactly close opponents to be competing in the same tournaments for our districts, so the NJCAA previously allowed us to determine our district champions based on scores," Loop said. "They're not going to let us do that anymore. We have to have end-of-the year tournaments to determine our region winner. Next year we'll also have to have a district tournament."
Tournament Changes
This year, the NJCAA will consider Region IX and Region I their own districts, and they will play their own year-end tournament in April with two teams automatically qualifying for the national tournament. However, for the 2024-25 season, both regions will meet for one district tournament.
"So, for this year, our weekly region tournaments don't mean as much as they used to," Loop said.
Region IX will continue season-long points standings for individuals with the top four point-earners named to the Region IX First Team, and the fifth through eighth place point earners named to the Second Team.
"What this restructuring does do is allow us to schedule some different tournaments," Loop said.
One example is that when the region schedule is in Lamar the first weekend of October, MCC will bypass that tournament and instead go to Kearney for the Nebraska Intercollegiate Tournament which will give MCC the chance to compete against some Nebraska NCAA programs, NAIA and junior college teams.
For the final fall tournament, MCC will travel to Hobbs, N.M. for the National Championship Preview Tournament.
Five Freshman
MCC's five freshmen follow a team that ranked 13th in the final regular-season Division I NJCAA Men's Golf Rankings -- the team's best ever in the polls. Loop was named Region IX Coach of the Year as the team captured the Region IX championship for the third time in school history, the school's first district championship, winning the West District, and set six team scoring records.
"It's kind of hard to say what to expect from this group with five new guys coming from all over the world," Loop said. "I know there are some good players."
Andrew Brown, Wollongong, Australia, is a +1-handicap finishing in third place at the Ballina Junior Masters and sixth in the Murray River Junior Masters. "Andrew strikes me as a player that will be a great leader for our team as he is very motivated and involved both on and off the course," said Loop. "I think he'll have a great career at MCC."
Chance Gambini, Las Vegas, Nev. had a Top-10 finish on the national stage when he placed eighth at the Future Champions Collegiate Series in Las Vegas. He also finished 12th at the AJGA in Sevierville, Tenn. "Chance comes from a family of golfers and is familiar with playing in big tournaments which will help in Region IX," Loop said.
Matt Grimonprez, Villenuave-d'ascq, France, comes to MCC with a 73.9 scoring average, and won the 2022 Grand Prix Dunkirk and placed seventh in the Grand Prix de Bondeus. "Matt is very talented and driven to be a great college golfer," Loop said. "He'll be a great addition to our team."
Zachary Woods, Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia is a 1.6 handicap and recently claimed second place at the Nova Scotia Provincial Championships and fifth at the Prince Edward Island Junior Amateur Championship. "Zach is a great golfer and great athlete who brings a lot to the table at MCC," said Loop. "His drive and competitiveness will help him get far in college golf."
Everett Schroeder, Sheboygan, Wis., attended high school at Kohler. "Coming from Wisconsin, he knows what it's like to play when cold weather and wind are factors, and he's a hard worker," Loop said. "The Kohler area where he's from has a lot of tradition for golf."
Loop said the nice thing about only having five players is they won't have to compete each week to see who will play in tournaments.
"Hopefully that will create less stress for them on a weekly basis and they can focus on their academics and golf," said Loop.
One other change in the NJCAA golf rules is that schools can now bring in new students at semester. Loop had a commit that couldn't come because of surgery but now plans to join the team at semester. The new rule also allows the coach to recruit over the next months to fill out his roster for more depth.
MCC will host the Region IX field twice this season – Oct. 12-13 and March 28-29.
Up-to-date information about MCC golf, including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website.