Matches for the 13th Annual Governor’s Cup began Friday at Beau Pré Country Club with five members from Natchez competing on the Mississippi Team.

After Day 1, Mississippi trailed Arkansas by 10 points with a score of 15-5.

Mississippi Co-Captain and Natchez native Bill Byrne knows his team will have a lot of catching up to do today, but said it’s not impossible.

“We are in a big hole, but it’s not over until it’s over,” he said.

After the teams competed in four-ball matches on Friday morning, Arkansas took 8.5 of the available 10 points in the round. The only full point awarded to the Mississippi Team was from Byrne and his partner Greg Brooking, also from Natchez.

In the afternoon foursome matches, Arkansas claimed 6.5 points and Mississippi was awarded 3.5.

Brooking and his partner Kyle Smith won one point for Mississippi, while Natchez native Casey Ham and his partner Edward Wall tied to earn half of a point.

Another 20 points will be available in today’s single matches, and Byrne said everyone on his team will need to stay sharp to notch the come-from-behind win.

“We have some serious playing to do. (Arkansas) has an excellent team this year and they are playing some super, super good golf,” Byrne said. “We will see what happens. We have to play it match by match and make sure every player fights for their point.”

Tee times for today’s singles round begin at 7:30 a.m. and will continue in 10-minute intervals.