The Mississippi State men’s golf team gets ready to do battle with in-state rival Ole Miss in this weekend’s Magnolia Cup.
“We’re playing pretty well. We’re off to a nice start,” said head coach Clay Homan.
The Bulldogs have finished in the top four in all three tournaments they have played in this season, winning the Callis Communications Intercollegiate.
The team started the season finishing third out of 17 at the Scenic City Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Sophomore Carlos Sainz was the low shooter for the team, scoring 7-over par for the tournament, tying him for seventh.
Matt Fast, Noah Goldman and Greg Huxman all tied for 12th with a 10-over par.
The great play continued at the Callis Communications Intercollegiate Tournament.
They ripped through the Azalea City golf course to win the events by four shots.
The 844 they shot as a team is the third-lowest total in school history and was the lowest 54-hole event since the 2000 Gator Invitational.
As a team they finished the tournament at 20-under par.
This marks the second consecutive year they have won at the golf course, the previous one being the 2005 Homewood Suites Intercollegiate Tournament.
It was also the second year that the Bulldogs won the team and individual in the event. Last year’s winner was Joe Deraney.
This year’s winner Matt Fast led the way for the Bulldogs, scoring 10-under par.
Logan Young and Goldman tied for 15th with 1-under par.
After winning the Callis for his first individual win, Fast was named the Golfworld Magazine National Golfer of the Week.
“I’m sure he was excited,” Homan said. “The win gave him confidence.”
That confidence carried over into last weekend’s Memphis Intercollegiate at the South Course of the Colonial Country Club.
The team once again played well enough to secure a top-four finish.
Fast and Goldman led the Bulldogs on the last day of the event.
Fast shot a 1-under, and Goldman broke even.
Fast once again led all golfers on the team with a 3-over par to finish 15th.
Logan and Sainz tied for 17th, shooting 4-over par.
Goldman tied for 27th with a 5-over par.
As the team prepares to host rival Ole Miss, there are some parts of the game they must improve on.
In Memphis, the team played poorly on some par-fives.
“We still need to get better on those and mental things,” Homan said. “We need to do better on course management and shot selection.”
Most courses are 54-hole events, and that leaves room to catch up if early mistakes are made.
“We don’t have the time to catch up for early mistakes,” Homan said.
The Magnolia Cup is a fundraising event to support the MSU and Ole Miss Golf programs and also features 18 Bulldog and Rebel supporters going against each other.
The Bulldog team has been playing extremely well, and the coach is expecting the stellar play to continue in hopes to avenge last year’s loss to the Rebels.
“I’m looking for all of them to step up and play big,” Homan said. “Everyone’s pitching in. We have no one superstar. We have depth.”
The Magnolia Cup will begin today at 10 a.m. at the Old Waverly golf course in West Point and is open to the public.