No. 1 Bulldogs host MGCCC Invitational

PERKINSTON — No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast will host is first golf tournament of the year, and it's attracted a large, talented field to play at Windance Country Club.

Four teams from the Bushnell Golfweek NJCAA Division II Coaches Poll top 10 are in the field, and six from the Scoreboard National Collegiate Golf Ranking top 20. Sixth-ranked Central Alabama makes the trip from NJCAA Division I, joined by Jefferson State, another NCGR top-20 team from that division. 

"From both classifications, the junior college teams in this tournament from top to bottom make a really good quality field," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "I'm excited to see how that plays out. Over 54 holes, it's definitely going to be able to show who the better teams are."

Live scoring will be available at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/233922/scoring/team.

The teams will play 36 holes Monday and finish with 18 on Tuesday. It's a non-conference event, but there will be 10 MACCC teams in the field. There are 16 schools in the field, with Gulf Coast entering two teams.

Peyton Russell (So., Gautier/Gautier) and Stanley Campbell (So., London, England/Essex Golf College) are ranked third and fourth in the NCGR individual chase. No. 12 Ludvig Behring (So., Sollentuna, Sweden/Osterakers Gymnasium) and No. 22 Harlan Yerger (Fr., Oxford/Oxford) are on the Gulf Coast A-team, as well as John Mark Mills (So., Pontotoc/Mike Bender Golf Academy).

Toby Janes (Fr., Bristol, England/Brimsham Green School), Grayson Lockhart (Fr., Starkville/Oak Hill Academy), Andrew Miller (Fr., Tupelo/Tupelo), Garner Seymour (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) are on the four-man B-team.

It's the last event on the Bulldogs' fall schedule. They'll host an MACCC tournament after the holiday break. That will be a 36-hole event, but Thornton wants to get his team pointed toward the 54-hole district tournament and 72-hole NJCAAs.

"When you have a quality field, you want to get them as much golf as possible," he said. "Strange things can happen in a short amount of time, but over 54 holes here and especially at the national championship over 72 holes, the cream usually rises to the top."

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.