No. 2 Bulldogs lead District D tourney

No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the NJCAA District D Championship after shooting 16-over in the first round Tuesday.

The Bulldogs led by as many as seven shots early on the back nine at Reunion Golf and Country Club in Madison, but No. 10 Meridian closed to within a shot. 

"We hung in there," Gulf Coast coach Tommy Snell said. "We did throw some shots away, and we're going to talk about that, but all the guys are playing well."

Matt Wilkinson (Fr, Madison Central/Madison) continued his outstanding postseason play, and he has a three-shot advantage on the individual leaderboard. He finished with an even-par 72 on a long, windy course Snell called "a beast."

Wilkinson was never been more than a shot away from even on his way to winning medalist at the MACCC Championship, and he matched that Tuesday by making birdie on No. 1, bogey on No. 7, birdie on No. 10 and bogey on No. 17.

"Matt is just rock solid," said Snell.

Reeves Johnson (Fr, Germantown/Madison) is tied for third at 4-over. He made a strong run around the turn, making birdie on Nos. 8 and 9 and eagle on 10. He lost five shots on 13 and 17 combined, though. 

"Reeves had a really good round going and it got away from him a little bit," Snell said. "He's still in third place, which shows you how good he really is."

Chase Wilkinson (Fr, Madison Central/Madison) is tied for fifth at 5-over, he didn't have any trouble on the holes that tripped up the Bulldogs. He made seven straight pars to close out the round.

The five Gulf Coast golfers played No. 13 at 5-over and No. 17 at 6-over.

"I will tell the guys to keep doing what they're doing," Snell said. "Once they clean up some of the mistakes — they made typical freshmen mistakes in this tournament. That's what happened. I've got four freshmen on the team, and that's what they do. The good thing is they're very talented, and they'll take instruction and they'll play better. 

The top two teams from the tournament advance to the NJCAA Division II Championship, which will be played May 18-21 in Plymouth, Ind. 

Northeast Mississippi, which won the MACCC Championship two weeks ago, is 15 shots back but not out of the picture.

"I look forward to tomorrow," Snell said. "It's going to be a great battle. I expect Northeast to come back. They're a good team. We'll just be ready to play in the morning."

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