Campbell, Mills help No. 1 MGCCC expand lead

No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast padded its lead Tuesday in the second round of the NJCAA Gulf District Championship in Tunica, add five shots to the lead against Jones.

The Bulldogs are 6-under after 36 holes following their second below-par round of the tournament. They're the only team to card red numbers at Tunica National Golf Club.

"We played really well top to bottom," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "You've got all five scores right there helping out. I thought there were a couple of scoring opportunities where we didn't take advantage because of a few small mistakes, but the entire team is locked in and really doing their job."

Stanley Campbell (So., London, England/Essex Golf College) shot 2-under 70 to join teammate John Mark Mills (So., Pontotoc/Mike Bender Golf Academy) atop the leaderboard. Their 5-under scores are a stroke ahead of Jones' Sebastian Nowak.

Jones is 13 shots back of Gulf Coast at 7-over. No. 6 Meridian is at 17-over, with Jacksonville three shots back for the final national qualifying spot. 

Four Bulldogs are in the top 12 in the individual standings, with Peyton Russell (So., Gautier/Gautier) in eighth spot at 1-over. Ludvig Behring (So., Sollentuna, Sweden/Osterakers Gymnasium) is tied for ninth two more shots back.

Garner Seymour (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) shot 74 Tuesday, an impressive non-counting score that would have been no worse than third for any other team in the field.

Campbell is trying to repeat as district champion. He birdied five holes in the second round to make up the one-shot deficit to Mills at the start of the day.

"They've both made good club selections of the tee," Thornton said. "They've had good execution on their shots and are making a few more putts than everybody right now. We're hoping to keep it going tomorrow."

The final round will be played Wednesday, with the first Gulf Coast golfer teeing off at 9:30 a.m. The Bulldogs are trying to make it five straight district titles and 16 of the last 17.

 Live scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/238044/scoring/team

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