Golf Dawgs Tied for First Behind Pichaikool’s 66

Friday, March 15

Statesboro, Ga. (Forest Heights CC)

All Day

Mississippi State

Schenkel Invitational

Credit: John Weast

Golf Dawgs Tied for First Behind Pichaikool’s 66

March 15, 2019 | Men's Golf

Golfstat

By Austin Coats, Student Assistant/Communications

STATESBORO, Ga. – Junior Peng Pichaikool and freshman Ford Clegg each finished their Friday with an eagle on the 18th hole at Forest Heights Country Club to bring MSU's team score to a 5-under-283, good for a share of first place after first-round play at the 40th Schenkel Invitational.

State struggled in the early going, as the players combined to sink only one birdie through the first six holes. As the day progressed, the Golf Dawgs were helped on by top-15 performances by Pichaikool, Clegg and senior Austin Rose.

"I thought we did a nice job of battling today," MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith said. "We got off to a slow start as a team, but we were able to pick up some momentum as we made the turn."

Pichaikool's eagle on 18 took him two strokes ahead of the competition at the par-72, 6,947-yard course. The Bangkok, Thailand, native shot a field-best seven birdies Friday en route to a 6-under-66 and the lead. The Arnold Palmer Cup selection carded four consecutive birdies from holes seven through 10 and shot 5-under on the back nine.

"Peng did an awesome job of bouncing back after a double on six and gave us a round that we really needed," Smith said.

Clegg played well throughout Friday's opening round but really succeeded on his last six holes. Playing at 1-over to that point, Clegg tallied birdies on the 13th and 16th coupled with the eagle on 18 to take a share of third.

Rose, the only change to Smith's lineup, started the day off with bogeys on holes one and three but managed to shoot 2-under the rest of the round to help MSU's team score stay low.

Junior Garrett Johnson and senior Ross Bell shot 4-over and 5-over, respectively. Playing as an individual, redshirt freshman Ben Nelson carded a 2-over-74.

Going into Saturday's second round, Mississippi State shares the lead with College of Charleston. The Golf Dawgs will begin play at 9:30 a.m. CT from the first hole tee.

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MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith:

"I thought we did a nice job of battling today. We got off to a slow start as a team, but we were able to pick up some momentum as we made the turn. Peng did an awesome job of bouncing back after a double on six and gave us a round that we really needed. Ford was solid all day and had a great finish to his round. We need to make sure we come out tomorrow with a sense of urgency and excitement about the opportunity to compete. We need to continue to do what we do best, and that is staying in our moment and not thinking about anything else."