Saturday, March 5
Phoenix, Ariz. (Desert Mountain Outlaw Course)
Mississippi State
vs
Desert Mountain Classic
Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Men’s Golf to Compete in the Desert Mountain Classic
March 04, 2022 | Men's Golf
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Mississippi State's men's golf program is returning to the Grand Canyon State to compete in the 2022 Desert Mountain Classic for the third time in program history. The competition will take place over March 5-6 with the first two rounds of play on Saturday.
The Bulldogs have a successful history at the par-72, 7,107-yard Desert Mountain Outlaw Course. In 2019, State took home both the tournament title and individual title, winning head coach Dusty Smith's first title as Mississippi State's head coach. In 2020, State returned and finished in second place while posting the fifth-lowest first-round score in program history (278, 10-under).
"Coming out to Arizona to play a different kind of golf is going to prepare us and challenge us both physically and mentally," Smith said. "The message all week has been to play to our standard and everything else will take care of itself. We have to play with the proper amount of toughness to be successful this week. Our goal is to continue the process of becoming a complete team as we get further into the season."
Senior Ford Clegg will lead off for the Bulldogs. This will be Clegg's third time competing in the Desert Mountain Classic. In 2019, Clegg's freshman season, he finished with his best placing of the year tied for third place at 5-under. The following year, Clegg completed another top-20 finish, tying for 15th.
Junior Hunter Logan will take the No. 2 spot after a career-best second place finish at the 2022 Nexus Collegiate in the Bahamas. Logan has a 72.75 stroke average for the season and has started in every tournament this season.
Veteran senior Ben Nelson will compete in the third spot for State. During the Nexus Collegiate, Nelson made an incredible comeback after a tough first-round performance and rose 21 spots on the leaderboard to finish tied for 22nd.
Sophomores Loïc Ettlin and Pedro Cruz Silva will round it out for the Bulldogs. This will be the fifth competition this season that both sophomores will participate in.
Competing individually for State is senior Austin Vukovits. During the 2021 Steelwood Collegiate, Vukovits competed individually for the Bulldogs and posted a career-best finish of tied for 8th at 4-under.
The two-day 54-hole event will feature a 15-team playing field including host Michigan, Coastal Carolina, Little Rock, ULM, Arkansas State, UAB, Northern Illinois, Texas El Paso, Lipscomb, Santa Clara, Nebraska, Southern Illinois, Grand Canyon, and South Dakota State
The Bulldogs will tee off at approximately 8:30 a.m. CT on Saturday, March 5, to begin the competition.
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "HailStateMG."
The Bulldogs have a successful history at the par-72, 7,107-yard Desert Mountain Outlaw Course. In 2019, State took home both the tournament title and individual title, winning head coach Dusty Smith's first title as Mississippi State's head coach. In 2020, State returned and finished in second place while posting the fifth-lowest first-round score in program history (278, 10-under).
"Coming out to Arizona to play a different kind of golf is going to prepare us and challenge us both physically and mentally," Smith said. "The message all week has been to play to our standard and everything else will take care of itself. We have to play with the proper amount of toughness to be successful this week. Our goal is to continue the process of becoming a complete team as we get further into the season."
Senior Ford Clegg will lead off for the Bulldogs. This will be Clegg's third time competing in the Desert Mountain Classic. In 2019, Clegg's freshman season, he finished with his best placing of the year tied for third place at 5-under. The following year, Clegg completed another top-20 finish, tying for 15th.
Junior Hunter Logan will take the No. 2 spot after a career-best second place finish at the 2022 Nexus Collegiate in the Bahamas. Logan has a 72.75 stroke average for the season and has started in every tournament this season.
Veteran senior Ben Nelson will compete in the third spot for State. During the Nexus Collegiate, Nelson made an incredible comeback after a tough first-round performance and rose 21 spots on the leaderboard to finish tied for 22nd.
Sophomores Loïc Ettlin and Pedro Cruz Silva will round it out for the Bulldogs. This will be the fifth competition this season that both sophomores will participate in.
Competing individually for State is senior Austin Vukovits. During the 2021 Steelwood Collegiate, Vukovits competed individually for the Bulldogs and posted a career-best finish of tied for 8th at 4-under.
The two-day 54-hole event will feature a 15-team playing field including host Michigan, Coastal Carolina, Little Rock, ULM, Arkansas State, UAB, Northern Illinois, Texas El Paso, Lipscomb, Santa Clara, Nebraska, Southern Illinois, Grand Canyon, and South Dakota State
The Bulldogs will tee off at approximately 8:30 a.m. CT on Saturday, March 5, to begin the competition.
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "HailStateMG."
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
MEN'S GOLF | NCAA Post-Round 1 - 5/16/23
Tuesday, May 16
Dusty Smith Press Conference - 5/7/21
Friday, May 07
Ford Clegg OWCC
Friday, March 26
Garrett Johnson's OWCC Interview
Thursday, March 25