Mississippi State
Augusta / Haskins Award Invitational
Bulldogs Set to Compete in Augusta
April 05, 2024 | Men's Golf
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The No. 26 Mississippi State men's golf team is set to compete on golf's grandest stage, playing at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational on Saturday and Sunday just four miles from the fabled Augusta National and The Master's.Â
The tournament will be played on the 7,140-yard, par-72 Forest Hills Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia. The course was named "Best Public Golf Course" by Augusta Magazine and was host to the 2011 NCAA National Championship. MSU and the rest of the field will play 54 holes over two days, with the first two rounds of the tournament being played Saturday and the final round teeing off Sunday morning. Â
Mississippi State is one of eight top-50 teams in the 15-team field that also includes No. 1 North Carolina, and future SEC foes in No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 18 Texas.Â
"Our preparation for this tournament was very good the past couple of weeks," head coach Dusty Smith said. "Guys are really taking ownership of the team and understand the areas in which we need to improve in order for us to be the best at the end."Â
The Bulldogs are set to tee off the first round at 7:30 a.m. CT on Saturday morning. State will send out their sixth unique team lineup of the season. The Bulldogs will be represented by Hunter Logan, Garrett Endicott, Josep Serra, Drew Wilson and Alejandro Pedryc. The five players included in team scoring will also be joined by Harrison Davis, competing individually for the first time this season. Â
"We have a great opportunity in front of us this week," Smith continued. "The challenge for us is to block out all the noise and external factors and to focus on playing Mississippi State golf. We need to have fun competing and embrace the daily challenge of being the best version of ourselves."Â
This year marks the fifth time in program history that Mississippi State has competed in Augusta and the first since 1997. That year, both Mississippi State, as a team, and Michael Connell, as an individual, won the event, in a season that saw the Bulldogs reach the NCAA tournament. Â
Logan enters the tournament as the nation's No. 63 golfer according to the Clippd rankings and has shot par or better in 13 rounds this season, which is tied for the second-most on the team. Ten of those rounds have been in the 60s, which leads the team, and he has finished inside the top-three twice this season. Â
Endicott joins Logan and Serra as one of three Bulldogs to have competed at every team event this season. He also has shot par or better in 13 rounds this season. Last time out, he shot under par in two rounds of the Schenkel Invitational, including a season-low 66 in the second round. Endicott finished tied for seventh at that tournament, his third top-20 finish of the year.Â
Serra is the nation's No. 121 golfer according to Clippd. He leads the team with 14 rounds of par or better play this season and led all Bulldogs at the Watersound Invitational, finishing tied for 14th. Serra has finished inside the top 20 on four occasions this season.Â
Wilson will look to continue the hot start to his freshman campaign in the No. 4 slot. He has finished inside the top 10 twice this year in just four tournaments. In his Bulldog debut, he shot a 7-under 209 and was the highest placing freshman in the field at the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate. His career-low 65 in the second round is tied for the lowest round by a Bulldog this season. The redshirt freshman has earned the first individual ranking of his career and currently stands at No. 120 in the latest Clippd rankings.Â
Pedryc is set to compete for the first time this spring. Most recently, he shot 4-under at the fall closing Kapolei Invitational. Last season, Pedryc earned his career-best finish, tying for third at the North Alabama Invite in what was his Mississippi State debut.Â
Davis will compete individually for the first time this season after playing in seven events. He earned his best finish since the 2021-22 season with an 11th-place finish at the fall's Blessings Collegiate Invitational.Â
For more information on the Bulldog golf program, follow on Twitter, Facebook , and Instagram by searching "HailStateMG."Â
Players Mentioned
