No. 1 Bulldogs lead by 14 at Hart Invitational
Like there has been all season, there's a lot of Blue and Gold at the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Lou Hart Invitational in Meridian.
No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast shot 9-under and leads No. 9 Meridian by 14 shots, with Bulldogs in four of the top five spots on the individual leaderboard and six of the top 11. Will Burnham (Fr., Jackson/Jackson Prep) is tied for the lead at 5-under 66.
"This is the most competitive group I've ever been around, top to bottom," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "I don't feel like they ever take any days off when it comes to competing. That's in practice or when we're teeing it up in a tournament, so I'm pretty pleased with how they were able to play today and show how deep we really are."
Chase Kaiser (So., Natchez/Cathedral) is two shots back in third, and Andrew Zielinski (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) and Kyle Davidson (Fr., Kyalami, South Africa/St. Peter's College) are tied for fourth at 1-under.
Alessio Graziani (So., Johannesburg, South Africa/Beaulieu College) is tied for sixth at even-par, with Kemit Spears (So., Gulfport/Homeschool) tied for ninth at 1-over. Jackson Wise (Fr., Pontotoc/North Pontotoc) is tied for 15th.
Burnham, who started on the 10th hole, had three birdies before the turn and had two more on the back in a bogey-free round.
"He just really rolled it well on the greens today," Thornton said. "He did an exceptional job leaving himself in good spots to make putts and was able to take advantage."
Kaiser made five birdies, too, but had a couple of bogeys on his first nine.
Gulf Coast will try to close out its first perfect MACCC regular-season since 2018-19 in the final round on Tuesday. It would be the Bulldogs' seven tournament win in a row and ninth of the year to tie a school record.
Everyone will tee off with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
Team scores |
|
| Team | Score |
|---|---|
| 1. Gulf Coast | 275 (-9) |
| 2. Meridian | 289 (+5) |
| 3. Copiah-Lincoln | 301 (+17) |
| 4. East Mississippi | 302 (+18) |
| 5. Jones | 306 (+22) |
| 6. Northeast Mississippi | 307 (+23) |
| 7. Itawamba | 311 (+27) |
| 8. Pearl River | 314 (+30) |
| 9. East Central | 316 (+32) |
| 10. Hinds | 317 (+33) |
| 11. Southwest Mississippi | 331 (+47) |
MGCCC scores |
|
| Player | Score |
|---|---|
| T1. Will Burnham | 66 (-5) |
| 3. Chase Kaiser | 68 (-3) |
| T4. Andrew Zielinski | 70 (-1) |
| T4. Kyle Davidson* | 70 (-1) |
| T6. Alessio Graziani | 71 (E) |
| T9. Kemit Spears* | 72 (+1) |
| T15. Jackson Wise | 75 (+4) |
| * — 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.
