Friday, September 6
Loudon, Tenn. (Tennessee National GC)
Mississippi State
vs
Visit Knoxville Collegiate
State Opens Season Among Highly-Competitive Field In Knoxville
September 05, 2024 | Men's Golf
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Mississippi State's men's golf team is set to open the 2024-25 season at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate on Friday in Loudon, Tennessee. The three-day event will be contested at the par-70, 7,280-yard Tennessee National Golf Club.
The 16-team field includes six teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the Bushnell/Golfweek GCAA Coaches' Poll or the GOLF Channel Top 25 Rankings. Led by host No. 6/11 Tennessee, the tournament also includes No. 10/12 Ole Miss and No. 13/20 Georgia Tech along with LSU, which is No. 18 according to the GOLF Channel. The Tigers, MSU and East Tennessee State were all tied with 30 points in the coaches' poll, which was the second-highest total of the teams not ranked among the top 25.
"We are excited about kicking off our season at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate on a great golf course against an outstanding field," head coach Dusty Smith said. "I am pleased with how our preparation has been the last couple of weeks and know the guys are looking forward to competing this week. We need to choose to play with freedom and hold ourselves to the standard we have in place this week."
The Visit Knoxville Collegiate has been good to the Bulldogs in the past. The Bulldogs finished third at 13-under last year to open their 2023-24 campaign. That outing also saw Hunter Logan claim the individual title. The course will be modified from its standard setup to make Holes 2 and 14 play as par-4s.
State sends out a lineup that features a healthy mix of veterans and fresh faces. Led by former All-American Garrett Endicott in the No. 1 slot, the Bulldogs will start Alejandro Fierro (No. 2), Josep Serra (No. 4) and incoming transfers Dain Richie (No. 3) and Ugo Malcor (No. 5). David Beard will play as an individual.
Endicott opens his junior campaign already among the top five in school history with 41 career par or better rounds. His 18 rounds in the 60s through two seasons already rank sixth in State career history. The San Antonio, Texas, native recorded the second-lowest stroke average on the squad last year at 71.80.
Fierro saw limited action in his freshman year but carries significant momentum into his second season. He's coming off a summer victory at the Florida Legacy Cup, which he won by 11 strokes. This summer, he also placed among the top 25 at the Mexican National Amateur. After playing often as an individual last fall, he was in the team lineup five times to close out the spring, including two postseason events.
Richie and Malcor join the Bulldogs after having plenty of success at their previous schools. Richie, who spent last season at Southern Illinois, placed 10th as an individual at the NCAA West Lafayette Regional that the Bulldogs played in to close the 2023-24 season. He helped his squad win the Missouri Valley Conference and his stroke average ranked fourth in SIU history. Malcor won the A-10 individual title while helping VCU to the conference's team championship last year. His 71.83 stroke average was a top-10 mark in program history, and he tied the Rams' program record with 22 par or better rounds. This summer he was the top amateur at the professional Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge and won the Grand Prix of La Baule.
Serra was one of three Bulldogs to play in every team tournament last season, and he counted 85.7 percent of his rounds towards the team score. He collected 18 rounds of par or better, which ranked third on the team and 11th in MSU single-season history. He finished tied for 12th at last year's Visit Knoxville Collegiate alongside Endicott at 2-under.
State will begin teeing off at 10:10 a.m. CT on Friday morning from the No. 1 tee. Live results will be available on Scoreboard.
For more information on the Bulldog men's golf program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateMG."
The 16-team field includes six teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the Bushnell/Golfweek GCAA Coaches' Poll or the GOLF Channel Top 25 Rankings. Led by host No. 6/11 Tennessee, the tournament also includes No. 10/12 Ole Miss and No. 13/20 Georgia Tech along with LSU, which is No. 18 according to the GOLF Channel. The Tigers, MSU and East Tennessee State were all tied with 30 points in the coaches' poll, which was the second-highest total of the teams not ranked among the top 25.
"We are excited about kicking off our season at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate on a great golf course against an outstanding field," head coach Dusty Smith said. "I am pleased with how our preparation has been the last couple of weeks and know the guys are looking forward to competing this week. We need to choose to play with freedom and hold ourselves to the standard we have in place this week."
The Visit Knoxville Collegiate has been good to the Bulldogs in the past. The Bulldogs finished third at 13-under last year to open their 2023-24 campaign. That outing also saw Hunter Logan claim the individual title. The course will be modified from its standard setup to make Holes 2 and 14 play as par-4s.
State sends out a lineup that features a healthy mix of veterans and fresh faces. Led by former All-American Garrett Endicott in the No. 1 slot, the Bulldogs will start Alejandro Fierro (No. 2), Josep Serra (No. 4) and incoming transfers Dain Richie (No. 3) and Ugo Malcor (No. 5). David Beard will play as an individual.
Endicott opens his junior campaign already among the top five in school history with 41 career par or better rounds. His 18 rounds in the 60s through two seasons already rank sixth in State career history. The San Antonio, Texas, native recorded the second-lowest stroke average on the squad last year at 71.80.
Fierro saw limited action in his freshman year but carries significant momentum into his second season. He's coming off a summer victory at the Florida Legacy Cup, which he won by 11 strokes. This summer, he also placed among the top 25 at the Mexican National Amateur. After playing often as an individual last fall, he was in the team lineup five times to close out the spring, including two postseason events.
Richie and Malcor join the Bulldogs after having plenty of success at their previous schools. Richie, who spent last season at Southern Illinois, placed 10th as an individual at the NCAA West Lafayette Regional that the Bulldogs played in to close the 2023-24 season. He helped his squad win the Missouri Valley Conference and his stroke average ranked fourth in SIU history. Malcor won the A-10 individual title while helping VCU to the conference's team championship last year. His 71.83 stroke average was a top-10 mark in program history, and he tied the Rams' program record with 22 par or better rounds. This summer he was the top amateur at the professional Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge and won the Grand Prix of La Baule.
Serra was one of three Bulldogs to play in every team tournament last season, and he counted 85.7 percent of his rounds towards the team score. He collected 18 rounds of par or better, which ranked third on the team and 11th in MSU single-season history. He finished tied for 12th at last year's Visit Knoxville Collegiate alongside Endicott at 2-under.
State will begin teeing off at 10:10 a.m. CT on Friday morning from the No. 1 tee. Live results will be available on Scoreboard.
For more information on the Bulldog men's golf program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateMG."
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