Ole Miss golf 2018: The GAME OF THORNBERRIES rolls into Tide country

Red Cup Rebellion remains, for yet another season, in its truest and purest of forms … as a golf blog. RCR raises its handicap to again let Bunkie Perkins under the ropes to follow the Ole Miss Golf Team during their Fall 2018 season. This feature will preview the tournaments, the courses, the Ole Miss golfers, and the field each week, and as has become canon for this review, cover in great detail the many exploits of THE BY GOD NUMBER ONE AMATEUR GOLFER IN THE ENTIRE KNOWN UNIVERSE, THE 2017 NCAA GOLFING CHAMPION AND NUMBER ONE COLLEGE GOLFER IN THE SEVEN KINGDOMS ... LORD BRADEN THORNBERRY, FROM CLUBHOUSE OXFORD, FIRST OF HIS NAME, KING OF THE 19th HOLE AND THE FIRST TEE, MAKER OF BIRDIES, THE BREAKER OF PARS, THE RULER AND PROTECTOR OF AN EXPEDITED PACE OF PLAY … LONG MAY HE DRIVE.

The last time we saw our heroes:

We finally found something that can at least impede LORD THORNBERRY’s inevitable march to victory in a given tournament … acts of God. The other, less golfing-accomplished Lord saw fit to send a large hurricane barreling toward the Carolinas on the same week the Ole Miss golf team was storming the shores of Kiawah Island, ultimately shortening the Ocean Course Invitational from three rounds to two

The impending landfall of Hurricane Florence stunted what was shaping up to be a solid finish for the team. The shortened tourney ended with the Rebs in solo fourth with a score of +10, nine shots off the pace of tournament winner and host College of Charleston. After a not-so-inspiring 299 (+11) out of the gate in the first round, the Golfing Rebs righted the ship a bit in what turned out to be the final round, with a team total of 287 (-1).

This is usually the part of the summary where I talk about how great LORD THORNBERRY played and how he led the way for the Rebels and finished somewhere at the top of the individual leaderboard for the week. But this, my loyal subjects, is not one of those ordinary weeks, because it was a mere babe that led them in Charleston. Freshmen Jackson Suber rallied from a +3 round on day one to fire a -5 (67) on Day 2 to set the mark for the Ole Miss team and claim an outright second place finish in his first collegiate tournament in the process.

A finish like that, from a freshman no less, in his first college tournament no less, warrants special recognition. Recognition so special in fact, that it calls for a nickname to be bestowed upon our newest golfing phenom to be used hence in future summaries and until the end of time. While not a Mississippian by birth, “Jackson” is a VERY Ole Miss name. A very fratty Ole Miss name. Given that, and the fact that he is but a freshman this year, I’ve got no other choice but the call him “The Pledge” for the rest of his time with Ole Miss golf. Let it be said. Let it be written.

With nicknames now out of the way, did I mention that LORD THORNBERRY was also in attendance for this tournament? Our GOLFING HERO did what he always does in golf tournaments, he golfed his ball better than pretty much everyone else in the field, finishing with a cumulative +1 and a T-7 after the second round, registering yet another yop 10 to his already historic Ole Miss golf resume. His finish, along with a strong final round from redshirt Freshmen Charlie Miller (+3), got the Rebs back into contention and secured a solid finish to kick off the fall season.

Rounding out the scoring for the Golf Rebs were Chip Getz (as always, a golfer named Chip) at +10 (154) and Josh Seiple at +12 (156).

Golfweek Rankings:

Team: Not ranked; Individual: TEDFORD THORNBIRDIES: 483*, Jackson Suber: 295* (*these rankings don’t mean anything because only one tournament has been played and full rankings require a larger minimum number of events. Long story short, don’t pay attention to this.)

This Week’s Tournament:

Shoal Creek Invitational hosted by Graeme McDowell, September 23-25

The Course: Shoal Creek Club, Birmingham, Ala. 7,400-yard par 72.

Designed by Jack Nicklaus and traditionally considered the top golf course in Alabama (shots fired at Pirates Cove in Gulf Shores!). Hosted the PGA Championship in 1984 and 1990, the US Am in 1986, the Senior PGA Regions Tradition from 2011-2015 and the 2018 Women’s US Open.

The Ole Miss Team:

LORD TEDDY THE GREAT (Sr, Olive Branch, MS): Picked up right where he continues to leave off during his entire career, with a Top 10 finish in a collegiate golf contest. Capped off the tournament with a 2nd round -1 (71). The finish leaves him just two off the school record for Top 10 finishes, a record held by Darren Cole (83-86) with 26. Named to the Haskins Award Watch List, an award given to the top collegiate golfer every year. THORNBERRY won the Haskins award in 2017. Other winners of the award include some random folks like Phil Mickelson, and Justin Thomas, and Tiger Woods. NBD.

Jackson Suber (Freshman, Tampa, Fl): In his first collegiate tournament, all Pledge Suber did was drop a -5 (76) on the field in the second round to finish alone in second place.

Charlie Miller (Soph., Jackson, MS): Another Rebel golfer competing in his first collegiate tournament, the Jackson Sophomore fired consistent rounds of 74 and 73 to get in a T-17 (+4) finish at the Ocean Course.

Cecil Wegener (Soph., Jackson, MS): Competed as an individual at Kiawah Island. Took the opportunity to fire a -3 (69) in the final round to finish with a T-24 for the shortened week.

Chip Getz (Golfer, Named that), Josh Seiple, Beau Briggs, Freshmen du jour: The golfing Rebs need the back end of the rotation to step up this year, and depending on qualifying, any of these guys could have a chance to crack the Top 5 on a weekly basis.

The Field:

No. 46 UAB, Georgia Southern, High Point, No. 15 Kansas, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Lipscomb, Louisiana Tech, North Florida, Samford, South Alabama, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 30 Vanderbilt.

Top individuals who are playing for second behind the DUKE OF CLUB TWIRL include:

No. 10 Brandon Smith – Texas A&M, No. 20 Will Gordon – Vandy, No. 21 Chandler Phillips – Texas A&M, No. 36 Phillip Knowles – N. Florida, No. 39 John Hayden – UAB, No. 40 Harry Hillier – Kansas, No. 46 Josh Augenstein - Vandy

If you want to follow the action: Golfstat.

GolfStat and the Ole Miss Men’s Golf Twitter remain your best outlets.

Next Tournament:

Erin Hills Intercollegiate, Milwaukee, Wisc. Mmmmm, cheese.