Mississippi State
NCAA East Regional
Men's Golf Finishes Fourth At Regional; Advances To NCAA Championship
May 17, 2008 | Men's Golf
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - For just the third time in school history, the Mississippi State men's golf team advanced to the NCAA Championship as they finished fourth at the NCAA East Regional held at the Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Bulldogs fired a 278 in the final round Saturday and ended the 54-hole event with a season-best 838.
"We had a good week and everyone contributed all three days," said MSU head coach Clay Homan. "We started our round well but then hit a rough spot halfway through the day. However, our maturity and experience began to show as we played very well through the final nine holes to close out a good round."
The fourth-place finish marked the best by a State team in an NCAA Regional in five previous appearances. The 838 was also the best 54-hole score ever by a Bulldog team in Regional play.
Junior Noah Goldman led State as he finished tied for eighth, shooting a 6-under, 207 for the three day event. Josh Bevell had the best finish of his career as he shot a 2-under, 69 on Saturday and finished tied for 14th with a 208. Senior Josh Oller finished tied for 29th with a 211 after a 1-under 70 on Saturday. Matt Fast also carded a 1-under 70 on Saturday as he concluded tournament play with a 213 and finished tied for 38th. Junior Carlos Sainz shot an even-par 71 in the final round and finished tied for 84th.
Georgia won the team title, finishing the tournament with an 811. Augusta State wrapped up second place while UC-Irvine took third. Georgia's Russell Henley and UAB's Zach Sucher both finished 13-under par for the tournament to share individual honors. The pair edged the field by two strokes.
Held at the Kampen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana, the 2008 NCAA Championship will take place May 28-30. In the field of 30 teams, State will join four other Southeastern Conference teams in the championship including Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Auburn.
"We look forward to going to the Championship for only the third time in school history," said Homan. "It will be special for us and we are excited about the opportunity."
MSU's last appearance came in 2000 when State finished seventh in the NCAA East Regional. The only other appearance in the championship for the Bulldogs came in 1991 when State advanced with a 10th-place finish in the East Regional.
Third Round Results-NCAA East Regional
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - 5/17/08
1. Georgia 265-271-275=811, -41; 2. Augusta State 273-282-277=832, -20; 3. UC-Irvine 283-275-278=836, -16; 4. Mississippi St. U. 278-282-278=838, -14; 5. UAB 287-274-278=839, -13; 6. Auburn 281-277-282=840, -12; 7. Charlotte 281-282-281=844, -8; 8. East Tennessee St. 286-283-276=845, -7; 9. Middle Tennessee St. 278-286-282=846, -6; 10. Virginia, U. of 286-287-276=849, -3; 11. Michigan State 285-279-287=851, -1; T12. Tennessee-Chattanooga 282-281-290=853, +1; T12. New Mexico State U. 280-281-292=853, +1; 14. North Carolina State 279-296-280=855, +3; 15. Virginia Tech 281-291-286=858, +6; 16. South Carolina 288-293-278=859, +7; 17. Georgia State Univ. 287-286-288=861, +9; 18. North Florida, U. of 293-288-281=862, +10; 19. Duke University 286-282-295=863, +11; T20. Memphis, U. of 289-291-284=864, +12; T20. Western Carolina U. 285-289-290=864, +12; 22. Coastal Carolina 285-291-289=865, +13; T23. SMU 276-295-295=866, +14;T23. Colorado State Univ. 282-293-291=866, +14; 25. Mississippi, U. of 293-291-287=871, +19; 26. Western Illinois U. 293-292-290=875, +23; 27. Jackson State Univ. 302-334-312=948, +96
MSU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
T8. Noah Goldman 68-70-69=207
T14. Josh Bevell 66-73-69=208
T29. Josh Oller 70-71-70=211
T38. Matt Fast 75-68-70=213
T84. Carlos Sainz 74-73-71=218
