MSU To Compete Against SEC In Match Play

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After a few short days off, Mississippi State men's golf team is set to compete against every member of the SEC in the newly-created SEC Match Play hosted by Alabama.

The three-day event, formerly known as the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, will span Sunday (Oct. 10) through Tuesday (Oct. 12) and will be played at the par 72, 7,370-yard Shoal Creek Golf Club in Birmingham, Alabama.

The competition will begin with head-to-head match play and see the teams play 36 holes on Sunday before playing 18 holes on Monday and Tuesday. Every team is guaranteed to play matches on all three days, even if a team has been eliminated. Teams that are eliminated from the match play competition will continue in a pool play format for the rest of the event.

"This week will give us some great experience in match play," head coach Dusty Smith said. "Match play is much different from stroke play, so it's going to be exciting to see our team compete in this format. We need to have a great mindset this week and focus on what we are doing in order to be successful."

The SEC boasts six of the nation's top 25 teams including No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 14 Georgia, No. 15 Arkansas, No. 17 Auburn, and No. 22 Tennessee.

The MSU lineup will consist of Ford Clegg, Hunter Logan, Loïc Ettlin, Jay Nimmo and Pedro Cruz Silva.

Clegg looks to continue his success at the Shoal Creek Club course after shooting the second-lowest round (63) and the lowest 54-hole total (198) in MSU history at the 2020 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.

The Bulldogs are coming off an eighth-place finish at the Fighting Irish Classic in South Bend, Indiana on last Tuesday. Clegg, Logan, Ettlin and Nimmo all remain in the lineup from the Fighting Irish Classic. This will be Clegg, Logan and Nimmo's third event of the fall-season, while Ettlin and Cruz Silva will be making their second fall appearance for the Maroon and White.

Mississippi State will face No. 15 Arkansas at 8:20 a.m. Sunday on the front nine and will then take on the winner of the Auburn-Ole Miss match starting at 1:20 p.m. Sunday on the back nine.

The championship match is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

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

MSU To Compete Against SEC In Match Play

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ford Clegg

Pedro Cruz Silva

Hunter Logan

Jay Nimmo

Mississippi State University Athletics

MSU To Compete Against SEC In Match Play

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ford Clegg

Pedro Cruz Silva

Hunter Logan

Jay Nimmo

Related Videos