The Mississippi State men’s golf team carded a final-round 303 Sunday to finish in twelfth place at the 2002 Southeastern Conference Golf Championships. The Bulldogs fired rounds of 306-301-303 over three days for a 910 total at the Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course (par 70; 6,885 yards). Auburn won the title, finishing seven shots in front of second-place Florida. Defending champion Georgia finished nine strokes back. LSU and Vanderbilt tied for fourth place. Auburn’s SEC title is the third in its program’s history and it is their first crown since 1981.
Mississippi State’s twelfth-place finish is the worst showing at the event in school history. The Bulldogs recently put together a two-year string of SEC Championship titles in the mid-1990s.
Louisville, Kent., native Codie Mudd led Mississippi State golfers, finishing the tournament with a 226 total, which tied him for 39th place, after carding a final-round 74 (+4). Mudd was in contention for the individual title after firing a one-over-par 71 on day one to tie for fifth place. But an 81 in the second round dropped him from the hunt. Freshman Joe Deraney, playing in his first SEC Championship, finished the event in sole possession of 45th place after shooting a six-over-par 76 on Sunday.
Tim Satow also fired a final-round 76 to finish in a tie for 50th place while Kellen Maurer and Craig Horrocks both finished tied for 53rd. Maurer completed his play with a final-round 80 while Horrocks carded a 77 on the tournament’s final day. Satow and Horrocks, two mid-year freshmen signees from overseas, and Maurer, a sophomore junior college transfer from Oregon, join Deraney as first-year players at the SEC Championship event.
Florida’s Camilo Benedetti overcame a five-shot deficit to capture the individual title with a two-under-par 68, the best score of the day. Georgia’s Ryan Hybl finished one shot back, after shooting a final-round 71. Second round leader Jay Mundy of Auburn struggled Sunday, carding a 75 to finish two shots back.
SEC-TV will air highlights of the conference tournament on Thursday, April 25, at 4:30 p.m. CT.
The Bulldogs will close out the 2001-2002 campaign May 9-10 when they take part in the three-round Atlanta Intercollegiate at Atlanta’s Eagle’s Landing Country Club.