Bell Sharp in Mason Rudolph Round One

Friday, April 5

Franklin, Tenn. (Vanderbilt Legends Club)

All Day

Mississippi State

Mason Rudolph Championship

Credit: Blake Williams

Bell Sharp in Mason Rudolph Round One

April 05, 2019 | Men's Golf

Golfstat

By Austin Coats, Student Assistant/Communications

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Ross Bell shot a season-low 3-under 68 in round one of the Mason Rudolph Championship to steady the Mississippi State men's golf team on Friday's opening day.

Sharing a tie for 13th, Bell was MSU's best performer on a day where the Bulldogs shot a 3-over 287, placing them alone for 12th following the first of three rounds at the par-71, 7,100-yard Vanderbilt Legends Club.

MSU played well to start the day, shooting 3-under on the front nine, but found trouble after making the turn onto the last nine holes of the day.

"I thought we got off to a good start as a team today," MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith said. "We played very solid on the front nine and had a great opportunity to post a good number on the back nine. We made too many simple mistakes coming down the stretch that really cost us a good round. We need to do a better job of adjusting to how the course is playing in the middle of the round.

"It's important that we stay positive and focused on our process tomorrow," Smith said. "This is a long golf tournament with plenty of holes left to play and we are excited to get back out there for another opportunity tomorrow."

Bell carded five birdies and went without a bogey through his first 11 holes. The senior birdied holes two, nine and 11. From there, Bell went even par to finish within the top 15 on the player leaderboard. Bell is four strokes off the lead, shared between Kentucky's Cullan Brown and Tennessee's Nolan Ray.

Peng Pichaikool saved his opening round with three birdies on his last five holes. Hurt by a triple bogey on the eighth hole, the junior teed off 14 at 4-over par before bouncing back with an improved finish at 1-over.

Freshman Ford Clegg and Austin Rose also had counting scores for MSU's total, at 2-over and 3-over par, respectively. Junior Garrett Johnson shot a 5-over 76 whereas freshman Austin Vukovits, playing as an individual, carded a 79.

State has two more chances to move up the leaderboard, with 18 holes each day Saturday and Sunday. The Bulldogs will tee off from the first-hole tee at 9:20 a.m. CT Saturday.

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MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith:

"I thought we got off to a good start as a team today. We played very solid on the front nine and had a great opportunity to post a good number on the back nine. We made too many simple mistakes coming down the stretch that really cost us a good round. We need to do a better job of adjusting to how the course is playing in the middle of the round. It's important that we stay positive and focused on our process tomorrow. This is a long golf tournament with plenty of holes left to play and we are excited to get back out there for another opportunity tomorrow."