No. 2 Bulldogs are up by 18 after 18

No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast took control of the NJCAA Region 23 Men's Golf Tournament in the opening round Thursday in Natchez.

Four Bulldogs, led by Alessio Graziani, are in the top five, and Gulf Coast is up by 18 shots over No. 9 Meridian at Beau Pre' Country Club.

"We got off to a really good start," Bulldogs coach Brad Thornton said. "It started playing tougher on the back nine, but we were able to finish out well. Overall, I thought we played really, really good."

Northeast Mississippi is in third and 18-over, and Jones is 10 shots further back of the last automatic qualifier.

Graziani, a sophomore from Johannesburg, South Africa, shot 3-under 69 to lead teammate Will Burnham (Fr., Jackson/Jackson Prep) by a shot. Chase Kaiser (So., Natchez/Cathedral) is another shot back in third, and Andrew Zielinski (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) is tied for fourth at even-par.

Graziani got off to a red-hot start.

"Alessio was 4-under through eight holes," Thornton said. "He got out of position on a couple of holes, but for the most part played really well the entire day. We're able to have some putts fall early. We're really happy to have four guys in the running to win the region championship.

Graziani had a couple of bogeys on the back nine, but he added a fifth birdie for the one-shot lead. Burnham also had five birdies, but he had a double-bogey on the front nine and a bogey on No. 14.

Kaiser, who lives on the fifth hole at Beau Pre', bogeyed that hole Thursday, but that seemed to light a fire. He birdied the next three holes, but rallied after three back-nine bogeys with an eagle on 18.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to tee off the final round at 8:30 a.m. Friday, but the weather forecast is foreboding. The field will make a shotgun start, but there could be delays during the day.

Gulf Coast is shooting for its 14^th district title in the last 15 tournaments. The Bulldogs can also extend the school record of 10 tournament wins.

"We've got to be mentally prepared for what could be a long day," Thornton said. "There could be some abnormal conditions, so we have to be prepared to do what we're supposed to do. We want to simplify everything, fairways and greens. Hopefully that will be the recipe to get another win."

The top three teams advance to the NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship next month in Plymouth, Ind. Two individuals not on qualifying teams will also move on to the national tournament.

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