The Mississippi State men’s golf team is finally home.
Oh, the Golf Dawgs haven’t been totally away. They’ve practiced. They’ve gone to class. And they hit the road for a season full of tournaments.
But on Monday and Tuesday, they’re home to host the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship at the Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point.
“This is a special week for our program because we get to play on our home course and in front of our home crowd only once a year,” MSU coach Dusty Smith said. “I am looking forward to having our fans out there cheering us on.”
The tournament is the last at Old Waverly for MSU seniors Austin Rose and Ross Bell. As a freshman, Bell tied for eighth place in the tournament.
The 15-team field includes No. 4-ranked Vanderbilt and Ole Miss of the Southeastern Conference, and also Southern Miss.
The tournament just one week before the Bulldogs head to St. Simons Island, Georgia, for the SEC Championship.
Starting for the Bulldogs are Rose, Peng Pichaikool, Ford Clegg, Garrett Johnson and Austin Fulton.
Bell, Cameron Clarke, Ben Nelson, Griffin Agent and Austin Vukovits of MSU are competing as individuals
MSU has had at least one golfer finish among the top 10 individuals in six previous Old Waverly Collegiate Championships, but has not won the event as a team since back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014.
Johnson, who is making his 23rd consecutive start, won medalist honors earlier this year at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate in Scottsdale, Arizona, and tied for fifth place in last year’s Old Waverly, shooting a 4-under 68 on the final day.
Clegg, a candidate for SEC Freshman of the Year honors, is coming off a 13th-place finish in last week’s Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tennessee. Pichaikool tied for fourth place in the Old Waverly two years ago as a freshman and leads MSU this year with a 70.63 stroke average.
Paul Bowker is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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