No. 7 MGCCC in driver’s seat in Natchez

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.

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