HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Rain was in the forecast all morning at Hattiesburg Country Club. Aside from a few minutes of heavy drizzle, it was the team of Scott Rhodes and Tony Shell who were making rain.

The senior duo kept a clean card en route to a first-round 62 (-10), carding 10 birdies to take a two-shot lead ahead of Saturday’s second round.

“We ham and egged it about as well as we could,” Rhodes told the MGA. “We got off to a good start and Tony (Shell) was clutch. He made putts when we needed to.”

Team Rhodes/Shell opened their scoring with a birdie on the par 3 second hole with a near ace by Shell.  Immediately, they followed it up with two more birdies on Nos. 3 and 4. They tacked on another birdie on the par 3 seventh hole before closing out the front side with their fifth birdie of the nine on the par 5 ninth.

“Things just went our way,” Shell said. “Other than the one hole (No. 16), we never really got in any trouble. We managed not to take a step backward.”

Rhodes and Shell look to keep their momentum rolling into the weekend as they are set to tee off at 11:40 am for Saturday’s second round. They command a two-shot lead over Lance Reid and Craig Stevenson (-8). Rhodes and Shell’s playing partners Guion Gee and Kevin Spence lurk in third place at 7 under par. Three more teams are tied at 6 under.

Super Senior Division

David Griffin and Mike Thompson shredded the front nine at Hattiesburg Country Club on Friday, jumping out to a two-shot lead en route to an 8 under 64.

The team got hot early, birdieing four of their first five holes and gaining seven of their nine birdies on the front side. A lone bogey on the par 3 15th blemished their scorecard but was quickly erased with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17.

Two shots back of Griffin and Thompson is the team of Steve McKay and Ken Peacock (-6). Team Danny Hooker and Judson Vance as well as Team Bill Hatchett and James Massey look to make a move Saturday at 5 under.

Grand Master Division

Two teams sit atop the leaderboard in the 70+ age division. Eddie Brown and Alex Weddington sit atop the leaderboard at 8 under alongside Alan Hart and Walter Rogers.

Brown and Weddington tallied matching bogey-free 32s en route to their 64. Hart and Rogers also kept their scorecard clean to match their competitors, knocking home an eagle on the par 5 17th to slide next to them on the leaderboard.

Team Randy Pool and Kelly Swain are tied for third at 6 under alongside Paul Entrekin and Ron Posey.

Round 2 of the 2024 Bill Cass Senior Four-Ball tees off at 7:30 am Saturday. Team champions in all three age divisions will be crowned on Sunday. Live scoring can be found here.