No. 4 MGCCC builds 12-shot lead

No. 4 Mississippi Gulf Coast got its NJCAA Gulf South District Championship off to a strong start Monday, flexing its depth to run out to a 12-shot lead over Jones after the first round

The Bulldogs shot 4-under 284 at Castlewoods Country Club in Brandon. Jayden Owensby (Fr., Hernando/Hernando) leads the field after a 3-under 69, with teammate Logan Jensen (Fr., Diamondhead/Hancock) a shot back.

"We played well," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "Throughout the day, one through five, I was really pleased with the results today. We played the par-5s so much better."

The Bulldogs were 13-under on those holes, exactly 12 shots better than Jones. They had four golfers in the top eight, with Paul Hoefer (Fr., Heidelberg, Germany/Kurpfalzgymnasium Mannheim) tied for fourth at even-par, and Matthew Bond (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) a shot back tied for sixth.

Cal Wier (Fr., Hernando/Lewisburg), the Bulldogs' first-round non-counting score, shot 3-over. It would have been no worse than the third counting score on the other five teams.

"Jayden's score was obviously a really good number, but between him, Logan Jensen and Matthew Bond, they only played five holes out of the 54 holes today over par," Thornton said. "We need to clean up a couple of the double bogeys, but to play that consistent throughout the entire round was really good, so I like the consistency."

Owensby had only one bogey, and Jensen's score was impressive given he made back-to-back double bogeys on Nos. 12 and 13.

The top two teams advance to the national championship next month in Plymouth, Ind. Meridian is third after 18 holes at 12-over.

Gulf Coast has won the last seven district/region championships and 16 of the last 17.

Round 2 starts at 8 a.m. Tuesday, with the first Gulf Coast golfer hitting the course at 9:03. Live scoring is available at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/244015/scoring/team.

"We've gotta clean up a few things off the tee tomorrow, but besides that, just stick to the gameplan," Thornton said. "We need to play the par-3s a little bit better, but these guys are in a really good spot. We saw that heading into the conference tournament, that we were starting to play better as a team, so I'm really excited to see those results today and looking forward to winning the day tomorrow."

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