Consistency was regarded as a necessity by Mississippi State men’s golf coach Clay Homan in the days leading up to his team’s participation in the SEC Championship Tournament at the Fredrica Club at St. Simons Island, Ga.Homan said consistency was needed in order to continually shoot scores under par, which would eventually translate into a solid finish.
The team displayed the trait through each round of the tournament and finished the event in fifth place out of the 12 teams in the conference to give the Bulldogs their best SEC Championship finish since 2000.
Seven of the teams in the tournament, including the four teams which finished ahead of Mississippi State, were ranked in the top 25 of the golfstat.com national poll.
The Bulldogs finished the three-day weekend event at 878 after rounds of 293, 292 and 293. At the completion of each of the three rounds, the Bulldogs never found themselves below sixth place. Their score of 878 was the fourth-best total at an SEC Championship event for any Mississippi State golf team.
The team’s performance on the back nine holes of the course proved to be the area of highest consistency for the Bulldogs, and it proved to aid them after stumbling on the front nine holes.
“I was very happy with our play this week,” Homan said. “We finished well on the back nine every day and that was huge for us.”
The squad was paced by senior Josh Oller, who shot an even par for the tournament. Oller tied for seventh out of all individual golfers.
“Josh has been a big player for us so far,” Homan said after the second round of the tournament. “He especially showed up today and was able to get us our only score under par, which was huge.”
Carlos Sainz, Jr. fired 2-over-par for the tournament, including a final round where he shot a 71 and sank four birdies.
Juniors Matt Fast and Noah Goldman added to the Bulldog total by notching 5-over-par and 7-over-par respectively in the tournament. Goldman tied Oller and Sainz for the best round shot by a Bulldog golfer in the tournament by shooting a 71 in the first round.
Josh Bevell also competed and scored a 232 for the event.
The Bulldogs finished behind Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, which scored first place through fourth place. Among the teams they defeated were Tennessee, Auburn and Ole Miss, which are ranked 12th, 15th and 21st respectively.
“We finished behind some quality competition and there is no shame in that,” Homan said.
The Lady Bulldogs weren’t quite as fortunate at their SEC Championship Tournament, which was held in Loudon, Tenn. from Friday until Sunday.
They finished in 11th place in the event, scoring a 952 through the three-round event. The overall composite score was based on rounds of 319, 318 and 315.
Freshman Erika Thornton led the Bulldogs with a 233 and tied for 17th individually in the tournament. Her round scores were 77, 82 and 74. Thornton’s third-round 74 was the best round by a Lady Bulldog golfer in the tournament.
Julia Huh shot a composite total of 236 for the event after rounds of 79, 80 and 77.
Mallory Batson and Suzanne Stanley each finished 26-over-par. Gina Sharp also competed in the tournament and ended with a score of 251 after posting scores of 85, 82 and 84.
The Lady Bulldogs finished one stroke ahead of Kentucky, which finished in last place. Florida took home the championship after firing a team composite 10-over-par for the event. Arkansas, Georgia, Auburn and South Carolina rounded out the top five team scores in the tournament.