Graziani, Bulldogs hammer record book

The Mississippi Gulf Coast golf record book took some rewriting at the Derrall Foreman Invitational in Cleveland, Miss., on Tuesday.

Alessio Graziani (Fr., Johannesburg, South Africa/Beaulieu College) won the first collegiate tournament he played in by beating the previous low 54-hole total at Gulf Coast by nine shots, and the Bulldogs smashed the team record by 16 shots.

MGCCC moved up three spots in the standings to finish third.

"We came out and from start to finish, everybody stayed focused," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "We cleaned up a couple of the mistakes we made the first day, and we were able to get it done. It was really nice to compete against those four-year universities and show them what we had today."

Central Alabama, an NJCAA Division I power, shot 67-under beat host Delta State by seven shots. Gulf Coast was 15 more shots back, shooting 45-under. The Bulldogs moved past three other NCAA Division II schools Tuesday: Shorter, Union and Mississippi College.

All five Bulldogs wound up in red numbers. David Beard (Fr., Madison/Madison Central) shot 66 to finish 7-under, tied with Reeves Johnson (So., Madison/Germantown). Matt Wilkinson (So., Madison/Madison Central) shot 68 to wind up 5-under, and Ethan Trouth (So., Sutton Coldfield, England/The Streetly Academy/ was 3-under).

Graziani led at the end of all three rounds after shooting 15-under Monday. His 63 in the first round was one off the course and tournament record. He shaved five more shots off par Tuesday to come in at 20-under to edge Union's J.J. Zimmer by a shot.

"It felt really good," Graziani said. "I enjoyed the way I played. It was really nice to finally put every aspect of my game together and play good golf. I just followed Coach's advice most of the times. He has a lot of background knowledge on the course that we should listen to."

Thornton played at Delta State for two seasons after graduating from Gulf Coast, and he guided the team to a sterling finish in his first tournament in charge.

Graziani, who shot his personal low score ever in Round 1, was metronomic with his play and avoided trouble all around the course. He beat Grant Motter's 205 at the same tournament in 2014 for the 54-hole record.

"I think the most impressive part of it was he only made one bogey in 54 holes," Thornton said. "He was really able to control his ball and keep it in play. He was able to get the putter rolling and he was consistent all the way through."

Gulf Coast shot 270 Tuesday to miss tying its lowest steam core for a round, also set in that 2014 Foreman Invitational.

"Winning is contagious, so being able to compete and beat the teams that are in our conference this week hopefully gives us some momentum," Thornton said. "Low scores are contagious, too. When you go to a course that's a racetrack like that, you make four, five or six birdies, that's contagious and those guys get confidence." 

The Bulldogs open MACCC play Saturday in the Hinds Fall Invitational in Raymond. They beat Meridian by 19 shots in Cleveland, with Northeast Mississippi and Itawamba also in the field.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.