NATCHEZ — Natchez will be strongly represented at this year’s Governor’s Cup golf tournament, which will showcase amateur teams from Arkansas and Mississippi vying for state pride.

Greg Brooking and Bill Byrne will both tee off for the Mississippi team in the seniors division of the two-day tournament, which begins May 18 at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point.

“It’s an honor just to get asked to play,” Brooking said. “We’re fortunate that, from Natchez, we have two players playing in the cup matches. Very few cities will be able to tout that.”

Both Brooking and Byrne are veterans to the event and each has tasted victory before, Brooking said.

“Each of us have victories under our belts, so if we can get this one together it would be special,” Brooking said.

Byrne said representing the state in the tournament is an honor, but it is also something each player has to overcome at the tournament.

“You really have to put that out of your mind and look at it like a regular round of golf,” Byrne said. “You can’t let it into your head.”

Brooking said in addition to the tournament itself, the event allows him to reconnect with old golfing buddies.

“There’s a lot of camaraderie among the players,” Brooking said. “We’ve been playing against each other in state events, and it’s a lot of fun and there is a lot of ribbing that goes on between the Mississippi and Arkansas teams.”

Mississippi has won the event two-consecutive years, but Byrne said a three-peat would be tough to accomplish.

“I think we have a real solid team, but I know on the Arkansas team on the senior division there are two national champions, and one used to play on the PGA Tour,” he said. “We have our hands full.”

Brooking said he has struggled at Old Waverly in previous tournaments, but he hopes he can just edge out his counterpart from Arkansas in this year’s matchup.

“The course is brutally long and the greens are brutally fast,” Brooking said. “It’s a true test of golf, but in the case of trying to make the cut in the tournament it’s you against the course, and it beat me last time.

“In this tournament it’s me against the boy from Arkansas, and I don’t have to beat the course, I just have to beat the boy from Arkansas. And I have a lot better chance beating the boy from Arkansas than Old Waverly.”

Byrne said he has played Old Waverly approximately 15 times, and he has had his good rounds and bad rounds.

Getting selected to the Governor’s Cup team also exempted Brooking and Byrne from having to qualify for the Mississippi State Amateur in June.

“That’s another tournament I am looking forward to,” Byrne said. “I’ve played in that tournament off and on since I was