News

By Ryan Schlehuber, MCC Sportswriter

In its first-ever appearance, the Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s golf team finished 16th overall at the National Junior College Athletics Association’s Division II Championship, May 20-23. 

With 22 teams competing at the tournament, held at Swan Lake Golf Course, the No. 32-ranked and Region XII champion Centurions finished +110 over par during the tournament, beating out conference rival Grand Rapids Community College, which finished 18th (+116).  

“The whole goal was to get there,” MCC Head Coach Doug Harkema said. “To win regionals to get there was huge for us. To play in that as a first-year eligible school, it just doesn’t happen.” 

Harkema said he will have to do some research, but he believes his Centurions program is one of the very few, if not the first, junior college men’s golf team to make it to a national championship the first year it was eligible to do so following a one-year probationary period, which is implemented to new junior college schools’ athletic programs.  

Despite some delays with inclement weather, Mississippi Gulf Coast managed to claim the 2025 NJCAA DII Men’s Golf Championship title, scoring a total team score of 1,178 (+26), one shot better than No. 6-ranked Illinois Central. This was MGC’s third DII national title. 

Second-ranked South Mountain finished third with a +38 (1190), beating Kirkwood by one stroke. 

MGC’s Stanley Campbell won the individual play, shooting -5 for the entire tournament. He came in ranked as the No. 1 player. He was followed by No. 31-ranked player Reid Hall, of Kirkwood, who finished -3.  

MCC sophomore Zach Johnson (Holt, Mich.) topped the Centurions team, finishing +20, good for 41st place in the individual standings. He finished out the four rounds strong, saving his best for last, shooting 73 (+1 over par) in the fourth round, jumping up 18 spots from the previous day. It was the best round of individual golf for MCC. 

Centurions freshman Mason Blair (Holt, Mich.) finished +27 after four rounds, placing 70th. His best round was the third round, in which he shot a 76 (+4). Ethan Johnson (Holt, Mich.) finished +32, which was 91st in individual play.  

Harkema praised Zach Johnson’s work in the four-round tournament, especially his last two rounds. 

“He’s a wonderful player and a wonderful young man,” Harkema said of Zach Johnson. “What these student-athletes did, including him, set up the program for huge success in the future. The amazing amount of effort and time they put in, was commendable.” 

Zach Johnson said his last round was his best, much to the credit of good weather, which allowed him to hit the ball better than he did the first three days of the tournament. 

“I felt like, as a team, we could have done better, but I feel like we still did a solid job and it was fun sharing the experience together,” Zach said. 

Going up against several of the best NJCAA Division II teams in the nation was a competitive but fun experience, according to Zach, who took in the entirety of what was national championship golf. 

“Golfing in a national championship was definitely a really cool experience to be playing with really good golfers and knowing that our team belongs with them,” Zach said. “Also, the whole week was fun with the experience of playing and spending time with the team.” 

Harkema agreed, saying that the entire tournament was organized and ran quite well. 

“It was a wonderful experience,” Harkema said. “It was set up like a pro tournament, four rounds, tee times where everyone goes off the No. 1 tee. We had some really tough weather conditions but (the NJCAA and golf course crew) did a wonderful job. Communication was good.” 

In the beginning of the season, MCC knew it had a solid team and the Centurions proved it, faring no worse than second place in each of their spring regular season meets, capturing a regional title and finishing as the No. 16 team in the nation.  

“Our team has the school on the golfing map and has also impacted the program by setting expectations for future players that come,” Zach Johnson said. 

Harkema said his players wanted to finish as high as they could, but for him and his assistant coach, Zack Gascoyne, it was how well the team played together and for one another that they were most proud of. 

“They really did a good job of that,” Harkema said. “We created an atmosphere of playing well and playing for each other. I’ve coached teams from all kinds of sports, but very seldom have I seen players get to play on a true team like this, where everyone is playing together and holding each other accountable yet having a lot of fun doing that.” 

Harkema added that he takes a great amount of pride in the home-grown talent of this year’s Centurions team. 

“I love these guys,” he continued. “To think we did this with a bunch of local student-athletes, I think that’s pretty cool.” 

TEAM RESULTS             RD1  RD2  RD3  RD4  TOTAL PAR 

1. Mississippi Gulf Coast   293     296     289    300     +26
2. Illinois Central             296     289     297    297     +27
3. South Mountain           291     306     302    291     +38
4. Kirkwood                    297     304     297    293     +39
5. Murray State               290     310     301    296     +45
6. Montcalm                 313     313     315   321    +110
7. Grand Rapids              327     310      316   315     +116