Burnham, Graziani spur No. 2 MGCCC to another district crown

The drama in Friday's final round of the NJCAA Gulf District Golf Championship was all on the individual leaderboard with No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast running away with its 14^th title in the last 15 region/district tournament.

Will Burnham edged Alessio Graziani in a medalist shootout, shooting a sparkling 7-under 65 at Beau Pre' Country Club in Natchez to win by one shot.

"The first six holes, I was playing all right, and then I made a really big par putt on seven," Burnham said. "I knew Lessi was 3-under, so I had to pick it up. I just kept hitting good shots on the back nine, and my putter was really working well. I got hot. I knew I needed to keep making birdies to catch Lessi." 

Gulf Coast finished 20-under to win by 40 shots over No. 9 Meridian. The Bulldogs shot 14-under Friday, with Burnham winding up at 9-under. Teammate Chase Kaiser (So., Natchez/Cathedral) finished third at 3-under, and Andrew Zielinski (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) was fifth at 2-over.

Kyle Davidson (Fr., Kyalami, South Africa/St. Peter's College) shot even-par to jump eight spots into 10^th, giving the Bulldogs half the top 10. 

Burnham, a freshman from Jackson, and Graziani, a sophomore from Johannesburg, South Africa, shared a hotel room this week. The sophomore led by a shot after Thursday, and he was 4-under for Friday after making birdie at No. 15. He teed off at 16 and looked at the team score.

"I didn't know much about the scores up until I looked that the app and I thought, 'Oh, my word. This guy got hot quick,'" Graziani said. "It was awesome. I loved it."

Burnham led by a shot at that point, and he made his final birdie at 17 before Graziani birdied 18.

"It was very rewarding both Will and Alessio up there, with Chase right there with a chance on the back nine," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "It was nice seeing them battle, and I don't think they got relaxed or less competitive knowing the tournament was essentially over for the team. That was nice to see them battling through that."

Gulf Coast extended its school record with 11 tournament wins this season. The Bulldogs have won nine straight, and they'll head to Plymouth, Ind., next month for the NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship. It will be played May 23-26 at Swan Lake Golf Club.

The Bulldogs haven't lost to a junior college team this year, and they'll be playing the best of the best up there. Their eyes are set squarely on one prize after winning the 14^th region or district title in their last 15 tries.

"That's the standard that we've set here. We expect to win in the postseason," Thornton said. "You combine that with 11 tournament wins on the year, we're very happy about that, and we'll enjoy that the rest of the weekend. I hate to look too far ahead, but come Monday when we get back on campus, we're going to be ready to prepare for the national championship."

Northeast Mississippi claimed the other automatic berth in Indiana by finishing third. East Central's Gage Miller and Copiah-Lincoln's Alex Navarro qualified as individuals.

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