MSU Men's Golf Opens Spring Slate at Gator Invitational

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's men's golf program kicks off spring action this weekend (Feb. 12-14) in Gainesville, Florida, at the Gator Invitational.

The Bulldogs will travel to the par-70 Mark Bostick Golf Course to face competitors from 10 other SEC schools along with Power Five programs from the Big 12, Pac-12 and Big Ten.

State will roll out a lineup for the spring opener consisting of junior Ford Clegg, senior Garrett Johnson, redshirt junior Ben Nelson, sophomore William Wann and senior Cameron Clarke. Junior Austin Vukovits will also travel and compete individually over the weekend.

"Spring golf is something we always look forward to," said head coach Dusty Smith. "It's championship season and that is something we prepare for daily. We are excited to get started here at the Gator Invitational. It is a course we are familiar with that will do a great job of testing our team. The guys did a good job of staying competitive over the off season and working on things in their games that needed to improve."

Clegg is coming off the second individual victory of his career after winning the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate (Nov. 8-10) to close the fall. The junior fired a career-low round (63) and matched the lowest 54-hole total (-12, 198) in program history in the fall finale.

During the fall portion of the 2020-21 season, the team competed in three tournaments, playing only SEC competition. The team shot a 10-under in the final round of the Vanderbilt Legends Collegiate (Oct. 25-27) where freshman Loïc Ettlin fired an impressive 4-under 67 in his first collegiate action. At the same tournament, Nelson matched his career-low round of 68.

"We are far from a finished product," Smith said, "but every time you tee it up, you learn a little bit more about the character, competitiveness and leadership of the team. Our focus has been on having intent in everything we do. We need to do a great job this week of focusing on our own games and controlling what we can control. I know we have a lot of guys that are ready to step up in a big way for our team."

The Bulldogs will tee off at 7:30 a.m. CT Friday morning. The tournament will be open to fans and media. Social distancing and masks are required at all times on the course.

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU's golf program on Twitter and Instagram and like them on Facebook by searching "@HailStateMG".

MSU Men's Golf Opens Spring Slate at Gator Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Cameron Clarke

Ford Clegg

Garrett Johnson

Ben Nelson

Austin Vukovits

William Wann

Mississippi State University Athletics