No. 3 MGCCC trails by 6 after 18

No. 3 Mississippi Gulf Coast has ground to make up in its first MACCC golf tournament of the year. The Bulldogs are tied for third at 2-under, six shots back of Jones. 

Paul Hoefer (Fr., Heidelberg, Germany/Kurpfalzgymnasium Mannheim) is tied with two others for second at 5-over after a stellar 67. They're one shot behind Copiah-Lincoln's Leo Griesheimer.

"It was solid in spurts," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "Overall, we could have scored a little bit better. The course was very easy; the setup and conditions brought a lot of people into the mix. We've got an opportunity to go out and respond tomorrow. We're looking forward to that."

The tournament concludes with 18 holes Tuesday. Live scoring is available at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/241225/scoring/team.

The Bulldogs made up some ground late, trailing by eight shots as their last three golfers were on the final three holes.

Hoefer had eight birdies, tied for the most in the opening round.

"He got out of the gates early," Thornton said. "I think he birdied four of his first five holes. He was able to make four more on the back nine. I was pleased he was able to take advantage of some of the easier holes. Going into tomorrow trailing by a shot, and it's a packed leaderboard at the top, we hope he can close it out." 

Jayden Owensby (Fr., Hernando/Hernando) is tied for 13^th at even-par, with Matthew Bond (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) tied for 18^th a shot further back. Cal Wier (Fr., Hernando/Lewisburg) shot 74 and is tied for 23^rd.

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