Bulldogs Finish Second At Blessings Collegiate Invitational

Wednesday, October 2

Fayetteville, Ark. (Blessings GC)

Mississippi State

Blessings Collegiate Invitational

Photo by: Copyright Wesley Hitt

Bulldogs Finish Second At Blessings Collegiate Invitational

October 02, 2024 | Men's Golf

Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In what proved to be a two-horse race all day, Mississippi State men's golf was unable to chase down No. 15 LSU in the final round of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational. The Bulldogs shot a 6-over 294, a three-stroke improvement from the second round, but LSU pulled away with an 8-under day.

Only three under-par rounds as a team were recorded over three days. The Tigers and Bulldogs both shot under on the first day, with LSU leading by two strokes. The two programs matched each other with 9-over days on Tuesday when Louisville was the best squad at even-par. The Bulldogs finished with a 12-stroke lead over third-place Louisville and a 14-stroke gap over fourth-place BYU.

"I am really proud of our fight this week. We put ourselves in a good position going into the final round and fought until the very end," MSU head coach Dusty Smith said. "I saw a lot of growth from this group this week, and I think we proved to ourselves that our game shows up on tough golf courses. We need to keep making the climb and embracing our journey. We need to keep fighting daily and make sure we build off of this."

One Bulldog who has continued to build throughout the season is Drew Wilson. After making his first appearance in the lineup this year at last week's Valero Texas Collegiate, the sophomore stood as the individual leader after the first round. He remained in contention the whole way, ultimately finishing sixth for his third career top-10 finish.

Ugo Malcor got better as the tournament went on. He was the non-counting score for MSU in Round 1, but he shot a 2-over 74 in the second round, which was second on the team. On Wednesday, he carded the second-lowest round in the field, trailing only LSU's Algot Kleen who carded a tournament record 9-under 63. Only three individuals shot under par in the final round. Malcor's 71 was enough to lift him into a tie for seventh place, his best finish while at MSU.

Josep Serra also rebounded with a phenomenal final round. Serra carded three birdies to finish with an even par round, something fewer than 10 golfers could boast on Wednesday.

Garrett Endicott finished the tournament at 6-over but tied for 12th. Serra closed the tournament at 7-over and tied for 15th. That gave MSU four out of five golfers inside the top 15 in the 54-man field. State's second-place finish marks the second year in a row that the Bulldog men have been the runners-up at the Blessings. It's their highest finish in the tournament's history.

The Bulldogs will return to the course on Oct. 19 when they co-host the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational in Biloxi, Mississippi.

For more information on the Bulldog men's golf program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateMG."