No. 1 Bulldogs host MACCC event starting Monday

PERKINSTON — No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast will resume its golf season Monday when the Bulldogs host the Gulf Coast Invitational.

The two-day MACCC event will be played at The Club in Diamondhead in Hancock County. All the conference teams will be in attendance for the 36-hole tourney, joined by Coastal Alabama-South.

"We're playing well," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "It's a lot of rust coming back and playing in January. We got things kicked off right when the guys got back on campus, but the weather has kept us from getting out on the courses some, whether it's cold or rain. They've handled it well. We got a lot of practice time out on our range on campus. We're looking forward to getting the spring semester started."

It's the fourth MACCC event of the year, and Gulf Coast won the two events it played in. The Bulldogs haven't lost to a conference team since March 2022, nine events in a row. (Gulf Coast didn't play in the first MACCC event of fall, the East Mississippi Invitational, which was won by East Central.)

The Bulldogs will play in three MACCC events this semester plus events at Gulf Shores and Foley, Ala., before starting the postseason in April. The MACCC Championship will be in Tunica, with the Gulf District Tournament in Philadelphia.

The NJCAA Tournament will be played in Joplin, Mo. Gulf Coast finished as runners-up there two years ago.

Gulf Coast will play all 10 of its golfers in this week's event. Will Burnham (So., Jackson/Jackson Prep), Peyton Russell (Fr., Gautier/Gautier), Andrew Zielinski (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs), John Mark Mills (Fr., Pontotoc/Mike Bender Golf Academy) and Jackson Wise (So., Pontotoc/North Pontotoc) will play on the A squad. The B group includes Ludvig Behring (Fr., Sollentuna, Sweden/Osterakers Gymnasium), Stanley Campbell (Fr., London, England/Essex Golf College), Kyle Davidson (So., Kyalami, South Africa/St. Peter's College), Mateo Jimenez (So., Diamondhead/Hancock) and Garner Seymour (Fr., Biloxi/Biloxi).

"Our goal is to finish first and second, which we know is attainable with the depth we have," Thornton said. "We want a good start to the semester at a home event. We're getting ready for a really competitive spring schedule."

Tournament scoreboard: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournament-leaderboard/231681/scoring/team

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