Nelson Steadies State to Sixth on Day One of Gators Invite

Saturday, February 15

Gainesville, Fla. (Mark Bostick GC)

All Day

Mississippi State

Gator Invitational

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Nelson Steadies State to Sixth on Day One of Gators Invite

February 15, 2020 | Men's Golf

Golfstat

By Austin Coats, Graduate Assistant/Communications

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Redshirt sophomore Ben Nelson shot one of the best rounds of his career Saturday, opening the Gators Invitational with a 2-under 68 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.

Nelson finished the two-round day tied for eighth with an even score going into Sunday's final round. He led the Mississippi State men's golf team to sixth place at 14-over par after two rounds of play at the challenging par-70, 6,701-yard course.

MSU sits just two strokes out of the top five on the tournament leaderboard behind No. 36 South Florida. The Bulldogs shot better than three ranked opponents on Saturday.

"I'm really pleased with our battle out there today," MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith said. "I saw five guys fighting and rooting for each other all day. I'm proud of how Ben Nelson played all day. His round this morning was huge for us. Hunter Logan also did a nice job hanging tough."

The Bulldogs will begin Sunday's final round at 7:45 p.m. CT from the first hole tee. Live results are available via Golfstat.

"Tomorrow is a big day because it's our next opportunity," Smith said. "We need to stick to our game plan and be excited for it. We need five tough Bulldogs all day tomorrow."

"Today was just one of those days where you just have to stay in the moment, take it one shot at a time and not look ahead," Nelson said. "This golf course will get you when you aren't 100 percent locked in to where you are.

"I was doing a really good job of keeping the ball in play and putting myself in good spots to take advantage of holes out there. The greens are lightning, and we won't see greens like these until the SEC Championship. Tomorrow is a new day, and we are going to have to have all five of us in it for us to climb up the leaderboard."

Freshman Hunter Logan contributed a two-round 3-over score to the Bulldog cause and shot 1-over 71 to lead the squad in round two. He sits tied for 22nd going into Sunday.

Ford Clegg and Garrett Johnson shot 5-over and 6-over, respectively, in the first two rounds.

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

Gators Invitational
1. Florida (283+272=555, -5)
2. Vanderbilt (288+277=565, +5)
3. West Virginia (289+281=570, +10)
4. Penn State (287+284=571, +11)
5. South Florida (286+286=572, +12)
6. Mississippi State (285+289=574, +14)
T7. Coastal Carolina (288+288=576, +16)
T7. Liberty (289+287=576, +16)
9. Georgia Southern (289+289=578, +18)
10. North Florida (290+291=581, +21)
11. Jacksonville (295+289=584, +24)
12. Missouri (293+292=585, +25)
13. Wichita State (302+289=591, +31)
14. Toledo (299+298=597, +37)
15. UCF (298+304=602, +42)

MSU Players
T8. Ben Nelson (68+72=140, E)
T22. Hunter Logan (72+71=143, +3)
T35. Ford Clegg (72+73=145, +5)
T39. Garrett Johnson (73+73=146, +6)
T83. Cameron Clarke (82+78=160, +20)