No. 9 Bulldogs host Fall Invitational starting Monday

PERKINSTON — No. 9 Mississippi Gulf Coast will close out its fall golf schedule by hosting the MGCCC Fall Invitational starting Monday.

There will be 10 teams in the field for the two-day event at Windance Country Club in Saucier. They will play 36 holes on the first day and 18 on Tuesday.

"I think it's going to be pretty good," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "It's going to be nice to get some of these teams in from out of state: Calhoun, Andrew, Coastal Alabama and Rend Lake. I think it's going to be pretty competitive and give us a lot of experience back to playing 54 holes again, getting in the rhythm of playing a lot of golf in a short amount of time."

The event has always had out-of-state competition, but this year it added an extra 18 holes to attract more. That move eliminated the tournament as an event on the MACCC calendar, but there will still be five other teams from the state participating.

Gulf Coast has dominated conference play this fall, winning all three MACCC events. The Bulldogs won the Meridian Invitational by 39 shots two weeks ago.

"We're just wanting to stay patient," Thornton said. "We want to make sure we're making the right decision on the golf course with course management. I think these 54-hole events really separate the field when it comes to the better teams rising to the top. I would like to see us continue to beat our conference opponents and see where we stack up with these other schools from out of state."

Gulf Coast will use the following five-man squad: Will Burnham (Fr., Jackson/Jackson Prep), Andrew Zielinski (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs), Alessio Graziani (So., Johannesburg, South Africa/Beaulieu College), Chase Kaiser (So., Natchez/Cathedral) and Kemit Spears (So., Gulfport/Homeschool) . The Bulldogs will also field a four-man second team: Kyle Davidson (Fr., Kyalami, South Africa/St. Peter's College), Raines Walker (Fr., Madison/Saint Joseph), Jackson Wise (Fr., Pontotoc/North Pontotoc) and Mateo Jimenez (Fr., Diamondhead/Hancock).

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