Bulldogs Aim For Seventh-Consecutive Top 10 Finish
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Aiming for the team's seventh-consecutive Top 10 finish, the Mississippi State men's golf team travels to Tallahassee for the Seminole Intercollegiate hosted at the par-71, 7,141-yard Southwood Golf Course Friday through Sunday.
Riding a streak of six straight Top 10 finishes, MSU is off to its best start since the 2007-08 season. In the Florida State-hosted event, the Bulldogs have notched a Top 10 finish 17 out of the 25 years they've played in the event.
MSU is the only SEC representative in the tourney but will face No. 8 Georgia Tech and No. 18 Florida State. Other teams include Arkansas State, Boston College, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Florida Atlantic, Georgia State, Jacksonville, James Madison, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Michigan State, North Carolina, South Florida, Toledo and Troy.
In the first event since garnering SEC Player of the Week honors, Alex Rowland leads the State travel contingent for the event, which also includes Chad Ramey, John Darden, Fletcher Johnson and Clay Bounds.
Rowland, a senior from Houston, Miss., turned in a Top 25 finish to open the spring slate at the Gator Invitational before firing a 4-under-par 212 to claim a share of the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate title. His 72.76 scoring clip currently ranks him 19th in the SEC.
Just ahead of Rowland, Ramey owns a 72.47 average card, which is 15th-best in the SEC. The Fulton, Miss., native is tops on the MSU squad in both birdies (51) and eagles (2), and he is also tied for the lead in sub-par rounds (4).
Darden is making his third-consecutive tournament appearance whiles Bounds is in his second. The duo owns a 74.00 and 74.33 clips, respectively.
Johnson returns to the course for the first time since posting a tie for eighth-place in the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate. In both events he has played in his career, the Tupelo native has posted Top 10 finishes. His 72.40 scoring clip is best on the MSU squad and third-best among SEC freshmen.
Live stats will be available through hailstate.com beginning at 8 a.m. CST.
Fans can also follow Mississippi State golf on Twitter @mstateMG and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mstateMG.