NATCHEZ — A tough, unfamiliar course and a difficult wind made things rough for St. Aloysius’ bid for a four-peat in Class 1A golf.

The Flashes find themselves trailing Natchez Cathedral by four strokes after the first round of the Class 1A State Golf Tournament at Beau Pré Country Club.

Fisher Campbell, who had the toughest day on the tricky par-72 layout, summed up well what St. Al will need to claim a fourth straight 1A team golf title in round two today.

“We’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game in the second round,” said Campbell, who shot a 92. The score was discarded as only the top four are used after each round.

Chris Ingram tied for low round of the day on the 7,108-yard course, with a two-over 74.

“It was tough and the conditions with the wind made it pretty intense.” Ingram said.

Nick Mekus shot an 81 while Elliott Bexley and McKay Harris had 90s to give the Flashes a first-round score of 335.

Cathedral was at 331. Avery Middleton had the best score for Green Wave at 77. Elliott McCann had an 80 followed by Steve Scarborugh’s 82 and Kayd Rush’s 92.

Thrasher was 42 strokes behind Cathedral at 373 and Ingomar was fourth at 384. West Union’s Austin Bynum tied Ingram for the first-round lead with a 74.

St. Al coach Jim Taylor said Cathedral used familiar settings to grab the first day lead.

“They have the home course advantage while we were up and down all day,” Taylor said.

Beau Pré is long and it features plenty of hazards, with water on 15 and 16 and an elevated green protected by two bunkers on the par-5 18th.

“The whole course is tough, one through 18,” Campbell said. “The winds were also pretty gnarly, especially for us.”

St. Al has been dominant this season and has not trailed any match. They’ve beaten all their small school foes by large margins, including Cathedral.

“We’ve beaten Cathedral twice already this year and I think the smallest margin was 32 strokes,” Ingram said. “We can get it get together.”