The Mississippi State University men’s golf team got off to a slow start for the second consecutive tournament but was able to put together two solid final rounds once again to finish fourth at the Mason Rudolph Championship this past weekend. 
Although State has finished in the top five in each of its first two tournaments, the Bulldogs have had to battle back due to slow starts.
MSU has averaged an opening day score of 292.5 and has found itself near the bottom of the standings only to average a score of 280 in the final two rounds to enable the team to finish well.
However, head coach Clay Homan said the golf team’s first round jitters are because of several factors.
“Some things we have to do a better job of are getting off to a better start, being more mentally prepared to play the golf course, not making as many mistakes in that first round and not waiting until the second or third round to start making a comeback,” Homan said.
The Bulldogs finished the first day with a score of 293 and found themselves in 10th place. However, behind the second round scores of junior Chad Ramey’s 68 and junior Axel Boasson’s 67, State was able to shave a total of 11 strokes off its first day total to post a score of 282 and move up seven spots to third place.
State managed to end up with a three-round total of 862 to ultimately finish fourth and improve its record to 24-4 for the season.
MSU will be entering its next tournament without three of its players as junior Axel Boasson, freshman Haraldur Magnus and senior Robi Calvesbert will be traveling to Antalya, Turkey to participate in the 2012 World Team Amateur Championships in Golf.
Boasson and Magnus will be representing Iceland, and Calvesbert will be a member of the Puerto Rican squad. The absence of these three players will give other members of the team, such as sophomores Tyler Smith and Fletcher Johnson and junior Barrett Edens, an opportunity to show their potential.
Calvesbert said this will be a good chance for those players to step up.
“The guys are definitely excited about getting an opportunity to get on the team,” he said. “For those that did not do too well qualifying for the first unit, it’s going to give them an opportunity to show coach that they are ready to play.”
The Bulldogs will travel to Baton Rouge, La., to play in the David Toms Intercollegiate at the University Club Oct. 6-7 for their next tournament. It is the third different venue for this tournament in as many years.