No. 2 Bulldogs in striking distance of title

\No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast survived a wild and wooly final hour of the first round of the MACCC Championship on Monday in Meridian and will start the final round two shots off the lead.

The Bulldogs are in third place at 11-over, with No. 10 Meridian, the tournament hosts, atop the leaderboard at Briarwood Golf Club. Sandwiched a shot in between is Northeast Mississippi.

"How many lead changes were there? It was like watching a close basketball game," Gulf Coast coach Tommy Snell said. "Watching it live, we just bounced back and forth."

Matt Wilkinson (Fr, Madison Central/Madison) is a shot off the individual lead after carding an even-par 72. The Meridian tandem of Ethan Dyess and Presley Wade finished 1-under.

Hayden Green (So, D'Iberville/Biloxi) is tied for fourth at 1-over, and Chase Wilkinson (Fr, Madison Central/Madison) is 3-over tied for eighth. 

"Matt played steady, but every time he made a birdie, he'd come back and make bogey," Snell said. "Hayden played solid all day."

Northeast and Meridian were tied at 7-over with Gulf Coast a shot back about an hour before the round ended. Meridian surged behind a string of birdies by Dyess, and when Gulf Coast saw a nine pop up on a par-4, the Bulldogs were seven back at 12-over.

Wilkinson birdied 17 and the final three Meridian golfers played 18 at 5-over to get Gulf Coast back in the mix.

"If we just minimize mistakes tomorrow, we have a good chance to pull it out," Snell said. "But we're going to have to play well. They're on their home track, and we're going to have to play well."

The top five teams after tomorrow advance to the NJCAA District D Tournament, plus five individuals. It will be played April 27-28 in Madison, with two teams and five individuals advancing to the national championship.

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