GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Mississippi State men's golf team began the fall season with a third place finish at the SunTrust Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. MSU ended the fall with back-to-back runner-up finishes, making this their third-straight top-three finish for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs ended the first round with a 288 and in a tie for 10th place and followed with a 5-under-par 275 in the second round improving to sixth place on Saturday. On Sunday, Mstate notched a 1-under-par 279 to close out the three-round event, finishing in third place among the 14-team field, which included nine teams ranked in the top 50 in Golfstat (determines postseason play).
"I am very satisfied with how we performed in the Invitational against a very tough field," said Head Coach Clay Homan. "We were able to beat three top 25 teams (Duke, Wake Forest and Mississippi) and get a good start to our spring season."
MSU was led by the junior duo of Carlos Sainz, Jr. and Noah Goldman who both finished in a tie for 12th at 1-under-par through three rounds. It was the third time this year Goldman had claimed MSU's top spot and the first time for Sainz, Jr. Sainz, Jr. shot a 4-over-par in the first round and rebounded in round two with a 66, which ties several other individuals as the second lowest one-round score for the weekend. The Elgin, Ill. native closed the weekend out with a 1-under-par performance in round three, including an impressive 4-under-par back nine which included MSU's only eagle in the invitational on hole 14. Goldman fired two rounds of 71 mixed with a 3-under-par 67 for the weekend. Senior Josh Oller also had a top 20 finish, as the Brandon, Miss. native tied for 19th individually after a 1-over-par 211 in three rounds of play. Oller also led the team with 10 birdies, four of which came from his 1-under-par second round. Senior Jake Lambert was competing in his first tournament of the year for MState, finishing fourth for the team after a 7-over-par performance that included a 3-under-par 67 in the final round of play which tied the low score for the day. Junior Josh Bevell notched a 227 in three rounds of play, as Bevell joins Sainz, Jr. as the only Bulldog golfer to compete in all six of the tournament thus far on the year.
"We were able to get solid and consistent play from most of our guys with a few key performances standing out," said Homan. "Jake's (Lambert) third round performance gave us a boost along with Carlos's (Sainz, Jr.) back-nine in round three. Noah (Goldman) and Josh Oller were consistent throughout the whole weekend."
Host-school Florida won the invitational with a 20-under-par showing, while Florida State finished second after an 8-under-par performance. UAB finished two strokes shy of MState with a 4-over-par 844 through three rounds, followed by South Alabama who shot 11-over 851. Duke, Wake Forest and LSU tied for sixth at 13-over-par with Coastal Carolina trailing by three strokes at 9th. Georgia Southern finished 10th at 21-over-par followed by in-state rival Mississippi who shot 22-over-par. North Florida, South Florida and Georgia State rounded out the field.
MSU will return to competition next Monday, February 18, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas at the Roadrunner Intercollegiate.
Team Results:
1.Florida, U. of 269-273-278=820, -20 2. Florida State U. 278-276-278, -8 3. Mississippi State U. 288-275-279=842, +2 4. UAB 276-280-288=844, +4 5. South Alabama, U. of 283-282-286=851, +11 T6. Duke U. 289-281-283=853, +13 T6. Wake Forest 288-278-287-852, +13 T6. Louisiana State U. 283-279-291=853, +13 9. Coastal Carolina 283-283-290=856, +16 10. Georgia Southern 287-282-292=861, +21 11. Mississippi, U. of 280-281-301=862, +22 12. North Florida, U. of 284-286-295=865, +25 13. South Florida, U. of 291-294-288=873, +33 14. Georgia State U. 290-290-308=888, +48
Individual Results:
T12 Carlos Sainz, Jr. 74-66-69=209, -1
T12 Noah Goldman 71-67-71=209, -1
T19 Josh Oller 70-69-72=211, +1
T38 Jake Lambert 77-73-67-217, +7
T66 Josh Bevell 73-74-80=227, +17
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