The Mississippi State men’s golf team began post-season play with the SEC Championship, held in St. Simons Island, Ga., last weekend. Entering the final round of play, the Bulldogs were in sixth position overall but settled for a ninth-place finish after shooting a team-total of 301 on Sunday. This was the second straight top-10 finish for the Bulldogs in the SEC Championships and their three-day total score of 884 is the seventh lowest in school history at the tournament. Georgia finished 13 strokes ahead of second-place Arkansas for the tournament victory.
MSU head coach Clay Homan said he was pleased with the way his team played through Saturday but regrets the fact his squad could not capitalize on more scoring opportunities Sunday.
“I thought we played pretty well the first couple of rounds,” Homan said. “Entering Sunday, we were in a position to finish in the top four overall, but we had too many mistakes in the final round.”
Senior Carlos Sainz, Jr. played a career tournament for the Bulldogs. Sainz took second place overall after shooting 8-under-par, a career best. Sainz’s three-day total score of 208 is the second-best score ever posted by a Bulldog in the SEC Championships, bested only by Graham Davidson’s 205 back in 1996. Sainz’s second-place finish is the best by a Bulldog since Alex Rocha finished second back in both 1997 and 2000.
Sainz said he felt confident heading into the tournament and was pleased with his performance.
“I felt really good coming into the tournament,” Sainz said. “I feel like I have been swinging the club better than I have in a real long time.”
Senior Noah Goldman started the tournament with a first-round 71, but would shoot consecutive rounds of 78 on Saturday and Sunday to finish 8-over-par. Goldman tied for 43rd place.
Senior Matt Fast finished one stroke behind Goldman, while junior Brian Mason finished the tournament at 16-over-par. Senior Josh Bevell rounded out the Bulldog team with a 236.
Now that the Bulldogs have taken on the best the conference has to offer, they will await word on the future of their season. With the NCAA Regionals on May 4, the Bulldogs are hoping to hear their names called for further post-season play.
Although Goldman and the team realize nothing is set in stone, the Bulldogs are hopeful they have done enough throughout the season to warrant a regional selection.
“I’m pretty confident about our chances,” Goldman said. “The SEC’s were a good experience for us, and I think we know what we have to work on should we make it to regionals.”
The NCAA Regionals will begin May 14, which will give the Bulldogs plenty of time to work on their games before a hopeful appearance next month.
With the courses getting tougher at every event, the Bulldogs understand how important it will be to improve their game, most notably in their short game and on the greens.
“Throughout the season, you find your weaknesses, and this time of the year we know what we need to get better at,” Goldman said. “If we can improve our short game, then we can be very competitive, regardless of how we’re hitting the ball off the tees.”