No. 1 Bulldogs lead by 11 in Fairhope
No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast flexed its muscles in its first competitive golf of the spring semester, and the Bulldogs lead a strong field in the Coastal Alabama Invitational after the first round by 11 shots.
David Beard (Fr., Madison/Madison Central) and Reeves Johnson (So., Madison/Germantown) are tied for first at 4-under, two shots ahead of the three next-closest golfers. The 11-team field was challenged by The Lakewood Club's Azalea Course in Fairhope, Ala.
"Both of them played extremely well today," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "They both this the ball well off the tee and putted well. It was pretty much a complete round for them both on a golf course that was very difficult today. When you've got two guys on top, that does great things for the team."
Gulf Coast, which is first in the Bushnell Golfweek NJCAA Division II Coaches Poll, leads Central Alabama, which is fourth in the Division I version of that poll. Eastern Florida State, which is fourth in the D-I coaches poll, is another three shots back tied with Calhoun.
Alessio Graziani (Fr., Johannesburg, South Africa/Beaulieu College) is also in red numbers at 1-under 71 tied for seventh. Ethan Trouth (So., Sutton Coldfield, England/The Streetly Academy) shot 2-over and is tied for 17th.
Three other top-20 teams from Division I are in the field: host Coastal Alabama-South, Wallace State and Calhoun. Northeast Mississippi, another MACCC rival, is 15th in the Division II rankings.
Thornton hopes conditions are a little more forgiving Tuesday for the final round of the two-day event. Monday's conditions were particularly windy.
"I was very pleased with how the guys came out," he said. "I told them it was going to be difficult to get back into competitive golf right away, but we've really worked hard in practice and today it showed. Hopefully, we can show up tomorrow and finish it."
Team scores |
|
| School | Score |
|---|---|
| 1. Gulf Coast | 281 (-7) |
| 2. Central Alabama | 292 (+4) |
| T3. Eastern Florida State | 295 (+7) |
| T3. Calhoun | 295 (+7) |
| T5. Wallace State | 297 (+9) |
| T5. Jefferson State | 297 (+9) |
| 7. Coastal Alabama | 304 (+16) |
| 8. Northeast Mississippi | 307 (+19) |
| 9. Snead State | 309 (21) |
| 10. Southern Union | 313 (+25) |
| 11. Andrew | 320 (+32) |
| 12. East Central | 334 (+46) |
| 13. Bishop State | 345 (+57) |
MGCCC scores |
|
| Player | Score |
|---|---|
| T1. David Beard | 68 (-4) |
| T1. Reeves Johnson | 68 (-4) |
| T7. Alessio Graziani | 71 (-1) |
| T17. Ethan Trouth | 74 (+2) |
| T46. Spence Davis* | 80 (+8) |
| T53. Matt Wilkinson | 82 (+10) |
| T53. Hayden Russell* | 82 (+10) |
| *—Playing as an individual | |
For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
