MSU Picks Up Top Half Finish At Jerry Pate

Tuesday, October 9

Vestavia Hills, Ala. (Old Overton Club)

All Day

Mississippi State

Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate

MSU Picks Up Top Half Finish At Jerry Pate

October 09, 2018 | Men's Golf

Golfstat

by Austin Coats, Student Assistant/Communications

MSU Picks Up Top Half Finish At Jerry Pate

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. – In its third tournament of the season, the Mississippi State men's golf team finished sixth out of 12 teams Tuesday at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.

State shot a 20-over 860 between the three rounds, over two days, at the par-70, 7,204-yard Old Overton Club.

In round three, the Bulldogs shot 13-over par. Junior Garrett Johnson had the best round for MSU, carding a 1-over 71, which included three birdies on the front nine. He finished the tournament tied for 18th shooting 3-over par.

"Overall, I am very proud of everyone," MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith said. "Everyone stepped up and contributed this week."

Sophomore Cameron Clarke and freshman Ford Clegg shot 3-over and 4-over par, respectively, and finished within the top half on the player leaderboard.

Senior Ross Bell shot 8-over par to share 33rd, while Austin Vukovits tied for 40th at 11-over in his debut tournament.

Vukovits provided one of MSU's highlights during the event when he sunk a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth hole during Monday's second round.

Alabama, the tournament hosts, won the Jerry Pate team title, while Arkansas's Julian Perico shot 13-under to become the individual champion.

Mississippi State will send four individuals to the TVA Community Credit Union Invitational next Monday and Tuesday at the Turtle Point Yacht and Country Club in Killen, Alabama, before playing its final team event of the fall at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational in Loxley, Alabama, October 27-28.

MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith:

"I thought we did a nice job coming out of the gates today. We talked about getting off to a solid start and felt like we did that heading into the back nine. Our last nine holes were definitely a struggle for us. We all got a little uncomfortable out there and did not do a good job settling down and focusing on the right things. I thought we were just trying to finish as quick as possible instead of staying in our moment and trusting our process and routines. Overall, I am very proud of everyone. Everyone stepped up and contributed this week. We played 45 really good holes. Unfortunately, you have to play them all in this game. We are excited to learn from this and move on towards our next opportunity."

Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate
1. Alabama (277+277+274=828, -12)
2. Arkansas (281+274+274=829, -11)
3. Auburn (283+279+273=835, -5)
4. BYU (279+274+286=839, -1)
5. Charlotte (286+277+279=842, +2)
6. Mississippi State (280+287+293=860, +20)
7. Minnesota (286+284+292=862, +22)
8. UNLV (293+289+281=863, +23)
9. UAB (283+298+288=869, +29)
10. Air Force (299+297+293=889, +49
11. Army (304+299+296=899, +59)
12. Samford (306+289+307=902, +62)

MSU Players
T18. Garrett Johnson (69+73+71=213, +3)
T22. Cameron Clarke (70+71+73=214, +4)
T27. Ford Clegg (70+72+74=214, +6)
T33. Ross Bell (71+71+76=218, +8)
T40. Austin Vukovits (73+73+75=221, +11)

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateMG.