State Adds Highly-Decorated Richie To Signing Class

STARKVILLE – Dain Richie, a highly-decorated golfer, has signed to play at Mississippi State for his senior season. Most recently, he played his junior season at Southern Illinois where he was second on the team with a 72.03 stroke average, which ranked fourth in school history.

The New Berlin, Illinois, native earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and finished 10th at the conference championship while helping Southern Illinois to its fourth conference title in the last eight years. He was also selected to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team.

"We want to welcome Dain to our golf program. Dain has proved he can play against the very best and that he belongs at the highest level in college golf," head coach Dusty Smith said. "He will bring us a wealth of experience as well as leadership to our team and culture."

Ritchie closed his junior year at the NCAA West Lafayette Regional where he finished 10th after shooting 3-under. That was the highest regional finish by a Saluki in program history. He fired nine rounds in 60s this past year and was twice named the MVC Golfer of the Week.

His first weekly honor came after shooting a 203 at the Kapolei Invitational, which matched the fourth-lowest 54-hole total in Southern Illinois history. His career-low 66 in the first round of that event was the eighth-lowest single round by a Saluki.

Prior to joining Southern Illinois, Richie spent two years at Parkland College where he was twice an NJCAA Division II All-American. He finished inside the top 10 at 18 of his 23 career junior college tournaments and finished his sophomore year ranked No. 13 in the Golfstat NJCAA DII rankings.

In his high school golf career, Richie was named the 2021 USA Today Central Illinois Male Golfer of the Year and was a regional champion. He holds New Berlin High School records for nine-hole season average, nine-hole low and 18-hole low, and he was the valedictorian of his class.

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

Mississippi State University Athletics

State Adds Highly-Decorated Richie To Signing Class

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