Saturday, February 17
Gainesville, Fla. (Mark Bostick GC)
All Day
Mississippi State
vs
SunTrust Gator Invitational
State Starts Spring at SunTrust Gator Invitational
February 16, 2018 | Men's Golf
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Following a 116-day break, the Mississippi State men's golf team will tee off its spring season Saturday at the SunTrust Gator Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.
"The spring season is here and we are looking forward to getting started," Mississippi State men's golf first-year head coach Dusty Smith said. "I feel like we had a solid offseason, and a good couple of weeks of preparation. Now it's time to compete."
The two-day, 54-hole event will begin Saturday with two rounds, and conclude Sunday with one final round at the 6,701-yard, par-70 Mark Bostick Golf Course.
The student-athletes competing for MSU include Peng Pichaikool, Taylor Grant, Garrett Johnson, Griffin Agent and Austin Rose.
Pichaikool, Grant and Johnson will pick up where they left off in the fall after competing in all of State's tournaments to this point.
Pichaikool, a sophomore from Bangkok, Thailand, leads the team with a 69.3 stroke average and shot 9-under to a third place tie his last time out for the Bulldogs at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational in October. Over the break, he earned the top amateur finish at a professional event on the Asian Development Tour, and tied for fifth at the Jones Cup Invitational against some of the country's top collegiate talent.
Freshman Cameron Clarke will also head to Gainesville, where he will compete as an individual. Clarke competed in three of State's four tournaments in the fall, a high for the class.
The 16-team field includes SEC opponents Arkansas, Missouri, Vanderbilt and the host, Florida. College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, Liberty, Lipscomb, Troy, UAB, UCF, North Florida and South Florida make up the rest of the competition.
Tee time for Monday is set for 7:00 a.m. CT, and live scoring for the tournament will be available via Golfstat.
The Bulldogs finished sixth in their previous tournament, the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational, after shooting 22-under October 23-24 in Vero Beach, Fla.
The SunTrust Gator Invitational is the first of six tournaments for MSU this spring. The schedule includes two events hosted by SEC teams, and State's home tournament, the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship April 16-17, which closes out the regular season.
Mississippi State men's golf head coach Dusty Smith:
"The spring season is here and we are looking forward to getting started. I feel like we had a solid offseason, and a good couple of weeks of preparation. Now it's time to compete. Our minds need to be in the right spot in order for us to be successful. We have to continue to respect our process as we take this next step as a program. We need to focus on what we can control, not worry about external factors and the rest will fall into place."
Need to Know:
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateMG.
"The spring season is here and we are looking forward to getting started," Mississippi State men's golf first-year head coach Dusty Smith said. "I feel like we had a solid offseason, and a good couple of weeks of preparation. Now it's time to compete."
The two-day, 54-hole event will begin Saturday with two rounds, and conclude Sunday with one final round at the 6,701-yard, par-70 Mark Bostick Golf Course.
The student-athletes competing for MSU include Peng Pichaikool, Taylor Grant, Garrett Johnson, Griffin Agent and Austin Rose.
Pichaikool, Grant and Johnson will pick up where they left off in the fall after competing in all of State's tournaments to this point.
Pichaikool, a sophomore from Bangkok, Thailand, leads the team with a 69.3 stroke average and shot 9-under to a third place tie his last time out for the Bulldogs at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational in October. Over the break, he earned the top amateur finish at a professional event on the Asian Development Tour, and tied for fifth at the Jones Cup Invitational against some of the country's top collegiate talent.
Freshman Cameron Clarke will also head to Gainesville, where he will compete as an individual. Clarke competed in three of State's four tournaments in the fall, a high for the class.
The 16-team field includes SEC opponents Arkansas, Missouri, Vanderbilt and the host, Florida. College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, Liberty, Lipscomb, Troy, UAB, UCF, North Florida and South Florida make up the rest of the competition.
Tee time for Monday is set for 7:00 a.m. CT, and live scoring for the tournament will be available via Golfstat.
The Bulldogs finished sixth in their previous tournament, the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational, after shooting 22-under October 23-24 in Vero Beach, Fla.
The SunTrust Gator Invitational is the first of six tournaments for MSU this spring. The schedule includes two events hosted by SEC teams, and State's home tournament, the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship April 16-17, which closes out the regular season.
Mississippi State men's golf head coach Dusty Smith:
"The spring season is here and we are looking forward to getting started. I feel like we had a solid offseason, and a good couple of weeks of preparation. Now it's time to compete. Our minds need to be in the right spot in order for us to be successful. We have to continue to respect our process as we take this next step as a program. We need to focus on what we can control, not worry about external factors and the rest will fall into place."
Need to Know:
- Over the break, MSU men's golf student-athletes collected five Top 15 and two Top 5 finishes at individual competitions.
- Most recently, freshman Goodman Rudolph finished tied for second at the USA Individual in Mobile, Ala.
- In the fall, sophomore Peng Pichaikool collected two Top 5 and three Top 10 finishes, and finished within the Top 15 in all four of MSU's tournaments.
- Pichaikool was ranked fifth in the latest Arnold Palmer Cup International Team ranking. If he remains within the Top 6 until March 15, he will compete at the Arnold Palmer Cup July 6-8.
- Sophomore Garrett Johnson shot a career-best round, a 68, in his final round last fall.
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateMG.
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