Mississippi State
Desert Mountain Invitational
No. 22 Mississippi State Secures Team And Individual Wins
March 05, 2023 | Men's Golf
PHOENIX, Ariz.ย โย The No. 22 Mississippi State men's golf teamย and Ruan Pretoriusย claimedย team and individual championships at the Desert Mountain Invitationalย on Sunday.ย The Bulldogs secured their second win of the season and Pretoriusย notched his first winย in the Maroon and White.ย
๐ฃ๐ธ๐พ๐ป๐ท๐ช๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฝ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท๐ผ ๐#HailState๐ถ pic.twitter.com/kaMePV4yRD
โ Mississippi State Men's Golf (@HailStateMG) March 5, 2023
"Iย am obviously very proud of our team for the resilience and determination they showed today," head coachย Dusty Smith said. "Itย certainlyย wasn't a perfect round, but the guys did a great job of accepting their shots and moving on from them.ย I can't say enough about Ruan and how he played this week. It was great watchingย him win the individual title."
Pretoriusย secured the individual championshipย three strokes ahead of Arkansas-Little Rock's Matteo Cristoni.ย He shot a career-low 208ย and finished at aย career-lowย 8-under.ย He registered 16 total birdies for the tournament and went bogey-free on theย front nine in the second round and the back nine in the third round.ย
"It was great having Coach Smith on the bag," Pretorius said after his win. "Our goal was to keep it out of the desert andย value my golf ball on every shot."
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โ Mississippi State Men's Golf (@HailStateMG) March 6, 2023
Ruan Pretorius is your Desert Mountain Invitational Individual Championโผ๏ธ#HailState๐ถ pic.twitter.com/Ildq5Cq8Ro
Austin Vukovitsย made aย 13-spot jump in the final round to finish in a five-way tie for seventh.ย He cardedย 11 total birdiesย and an eagleย with scores of 70 and 72 in the first and third rounds, along with a bogey-free back nine in the final round.ย
Garrett Endicottย andย Ford Cleggย both finished play with top-20 finishes.ย Endicott tied for 12th withย Santa Clara's Alex Conley andย Little Rock's Archie Smith.ย Heย shot 72ย and 71ย in the first two rounds,ย carding nine birdies total and an eagle.ย Cleggย made a 13-spot jumpย toย endย the tournament in aย four-way tie for 19thย with a tournament-low 72 in the final round. He madeย six birdies in the round and 12ย totalย for the tournament.ย
William Wann,ย playing as an individual,ย carded six birdies in the tournament and tiedย for 41st.ย Hunter Loganย tied for 70th.ย
MSUย will return to play at the Schenkel Invitationalย in Statesboro, Georgia,ย on March 17-19.ย
"Winning is hard, and to win both the individual and team title is even harder," Smithย added. "We are going to enjoy thisย and then get back to work for the Schenkel.ย We need to continue to embrace our journey."
For more information on the Bulldog golf program, follow onย Twitter,ย Facebookย andย Instagramย by searching "HailStateMG."
