The Meridian Community College golf team has made each season special over the past several decades, and the Eagles are hoping to make the 2017 spring season another historic year. 

MCC is getting geared up for the 2017 spring season, and the expectations are once again high for the team. The Eagles are currently ranked eighth in the latest Golfstat.com poll and are joined by two other junior college teams in the state of Mississippi. Copiah-Lincoln is ranked fourth according to the poll, while Mississippi Gulf Coast checks into the rankings at No. 7. The tough competition across the conference should makes things exciting this spring for the MCC golf team.

“We have been working hard this winter and look forward to competing this spring,” MCC head coach Ronnie Key said. “We are looking to our sophomores to lead us, and I feel good about the team and guys we have. We felt like we had just a mediocre fall season, even after winning our last tournament. I am looking forward to seeing what we can do when we hit on all cylinders.”

MCC will look to lean on its sophomore class, and one of those sophomores will be former Lamar School standout Lance Strickland. The returning sophomore will look to give the Eagles a boost during the 2017 spring season after having a breakout season a year ago for MCC. Strickland was a member of the MCC team that finished eighth in the NJCAA Division II National Tournament last year and received several different individual honors as well. 

Strickland was named to the PING All-American team following the National Tournament last season and was also selected to the All-Freshman team for NJCAA Division II. Strickland won two tournaments last season, tied for first in another tournament before finishing second after a six-hole playoff and placed second four more times. Strickland was named to nine All-Tournament teams out of 11 during his freshman season.

Strickland will also enter the spring season by receiving a nomination for the Arnold Palmer Cup team based on his scoring average. Strickland’s scoring average is 73.38, which is ranked 16th among all players in the division and helped the local product earn the nomination.

The newest addition to the MCC golf team this season that should help make a solid push toward a championship season is freshman Isaiah Jackson. The Golden native had a great fall season for the Eagles and finished with a scoring average of 73, which is ranked eighth in the division. The scoring average by Jackson also earned him a nomination for the Arnold Palmer Cup Team. The winners of this year’s Arnold Palmer Cup Team will be reveled March 16 at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The other members of the 2016-17 MCC golf team include the following: Porsche Kitipongpatana (Bangkok, Thailand), Payne Hasty (Demopolis, Ala.), Malachi Spears (Carriere), Rhett Walters (Louin), Terry Flowers (Meridian,), Jacob Berry (Braxton) and Brady Stevens (Brandon).

MCC is also getting set to host the annual Lou Hart Invitational, which will be March 6-7 at Northwood Country Club in Meridian. The annual tournament will be a key conference tournament for the Eagles, as both Co-Lin and Mississippi Gulf Coast will be participating. The 2016 spring schedule also features one more conference tournament at Lion Hills Golf Course in Columbus, and the annual MACJC State Tournament will be held Wesson this season at the home course of Co-Lin.