No. 1 Bulldogs stack at, near top of leaderboard

No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast is halfway to winning its eighth straight tournament after the first round of the Tiger Invitational.

The Bulldogs shot 1-over 289 at Shiloh Ridge Golf Club in Corinth to lead by 17 shots over East Central. The Warriors are the first of four teams within five shots of each other.

"It deteriorated pretty fast," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "The wind picked up until it was at least 25 mph, 20 mph consistently. The wind chill was down to upper-30s, low-40s. It was nice to see the team collectively play as consistently as they did."

All seven Bulldogs are in the top 12. John Mark Mills (Fr., Pontotoc/Mike Bender Golf Academy) is tied for the lead with two other golfers at 1-under 71.

"He was patient," Thornton said. "This course is very gettable. There are lots of birdies out there to be had, and when the conditions pop up like they did today, it requires these guys to adjust their mentality and stay patient. He did well and was able to take advantage of the opportunities when they came up."

Andrew Zielinski (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) and Peyton Russell (Fr., Gautier/Gautier) shot even-par and are tied for fourth. Will Burnham (So., Jackson/Jackson Prep) and Jackson Wise (So., Pontotoc/North Pontotoc) are tied for seventh at 1-over, and Stanley Campbell (Fr., London, England/Essex Golf College) shot 2-over and is tied for ninth.

Russell and Kyle Davidson (So., Kyalami, South Africa/St. Peter's College), who is tied for 11^th, are playing as individuals.

The tournament will conclude Tuesday with the final 18 holes. It's the next-to-last regular-season event for the Bulldogs.

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