MGCCC Sports Information

No. 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast battled demanding conditions Thursday in Natchez and leads the second MACCC tournament of the season. On a firm course with long rough on a windy day, the Bulldogs shot 10-over at the Copiah-Lincoln Fall Invitational and are in front of second-place Itawamba by eight shots, with No. 5 Meridian another shot back. Pearl River is in fourth at 24-over at Beau Pre’ Country Club.

“It was a solid day in extremely tough conditions,” Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. “Even with a few mistakes coming it, we handled adversity well and put ourselves in a great spot tomorrow.”

The Bulldogs are packed near the top of the individual leaderboard, too. Will Burnham (Fr., Jackson/Jackson Prep) was the only golfer to score even-par, and he’s a shot ahead of ICC’s Ross Reeder and Copiah-Lincoln’s Chandler Byrd.

Chase Kaiser (So., Natchez/Cathedral) and Kyle Davidson (Fr., Kyalami, South Africa/St. Peter’s College) are another shot back, tied for fourth at 2-over. Davidson is playing as an individual.Alessio Graziani (So., Johannesburg, South Africa/Beaulieu College) is in a pack of nine golfers tied for sixth at 3-over.

“I’m very proud of Will’s performance today,” Thornton said. “He was steady all day. That’s nothing surprising as that’s what we’ve come to expect from him. It’s great to have a few guys in the hunt for the individual win as well.”

Andrew Zielinski (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) and Mateo Jimenez (Fr., Diamondhead/Hancock) are at 5-over 77. Jimenez is Gulf Coast’s other individual competing.

Gulf Coast will try to make it 2-for-2 to start the season Friday. The second round begins with a shotgun start at 9 a.m.

Team Scores

Team                                 Score

1. Gulf Coast                      298 (+10)

2. Itawamba                        306 (+18)

3. Meridian                         307 (+19)

4. Pearl River                     312 (+24)

5. Copiah-Lincoln               318 (+30)

6. Northeast Mississippi      330 (+42)

7. Jones                              331 (+43)

T8. East Mississippi            334 (+46)

T8. Hinds                           334 (+46)

10. East Central                  338 (+50)

11. Southwest Mississippi   352 (+64)

MGCCC Scores

Player                                Score

1. Will Burnham                 72 (E)

T4. Chase Kaiser                74 (+2)

T4. Kyle Davidson*            74 (+2)

T6. Alessio Graziani           75 (+3)

T17. Andrew Zielinski        77 (+5)

T17. Mateo Jimenez*          77 (+5)

T27. Jackson Wise              81 (+9)

* — Played as individual

For more information on MGCCC’s 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.