No. 1 Gulf Coast leads big after first 18 of spring

DIAMONDHEAD — No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast showed its dominance in the spring opener here Monday, putting two squads ahead of the rest of the field in its Gulf Coast Invitational.

The Bulldogs' A-team shot 3-over par 291 and leads the B squad by 20 shots. East Central and Meridian are tied for third at 25-over. Six teams are grouped within seven shots starting at 42-over.

"I thought we played really well coming out of the break," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "We were a lot more consistent than a lot of people would expect. It's nice to see that top to bottom. A lot of guys were competitive."

Six Gulf Coast golfers were in the top 10 on the Pine Course at The Club at D'Iberville, led by Andrew Zielinski (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs). He's tied with Copiah-Lincoln's Oscar Toreld at 1-under 71. 

Will Burnham (So., Jackson/Jackson Prep) is shot back in third, with Jackson Wise (So., Pontotoc/North Pontotoc) another stroke back tied for fourth. Peyton Russell (Fr., Gautier/Gautier) and Mateo Jimenez (So., Diamondhead/Hancock) are tied for sixth at 75, with John Mark Mills (Fr., Pontotoc/Mike Bender Golf Academy) tied for eighth at 4-over.

Zielinski birdied two of the first three holes to set the tone.

"The key to that golf course is keeping the ball in play and giving yourself as many looks at birdie as you can," Thornton said. "He was able to get off to a really hot start, and that's why he's going to have a chance to win the tournament tomorrow."

The teams will be back out in Diamondhead starting at 8:30 a.m. It will be a shotgun start.

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

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