Our Swingin’ Landsharks look to defend their title in Charleston

The last time we saw our heroes, the Rebel Golf Boys had a quick turnaround. Just days after a solid showing in Cabo against some of collegiate golfing’s best, they sprinted back out to the West Coast to go heads up with another solid field in the Lamkin San Diego Classic.

Whether it was jet lag or the prolonged exposure to perfect weather, the Swinging Landsharks did not get off to the best of starts in Round 1. Senior Josh Seiple led the way with a -1 (71) and surging freshman Sarut Vongchaisit backed that up with an Even round (72) of his own. The rest of the team scoring struggled a bit, with Jackson Suber logging the best of the rest in Round 1 with a +4 (74). So, a bit of a hole to dig out of after the first round with a team score of +9.

The squad did indeed break out the shovels for the second round and made some headway up the leader board. Beau Briggs “or Go Home” lived up to his nickname that only I gave him, and likely no one else uses, by backing up a dismal opening round 82 with a second frame -3 (69). Cecil Wegener also had a solid bonce back second round by bettering his initial 78 with a -2 (70). Seiple and Vongchaisit continued their solid play with rounds of 74 and 75 respectively. The second half rally got the team up into 6th place heading into the final day.

In that final round it was Seiple and Vongchaisit again who led the way for the Links Rebs. Seiple registered another round of -1 (71) while Vongchaisit again finished with an Even par (72). The scores got Seiple into the Top 10 individually, and Vongchaisit into the Top 20. Cecil Wegener’s rollercoaster in San Diego continued as he brought the final round home in +3 (75). Jackson Suber carded a +3 (75) as well to round out the rebel score. The final team score of +14 kept the Rebs in the middle of the pack at T-7.

No. 5 Arizona State edged out No. 8 Texas for the tournament win at -10. Mason Anderson of Arizona State won the Individual Championship after beating Cole Hammer of Texas and Blake Heathcoat of St. Mary’s in a playoff.

Your golf Rebs are the defending champions of this event and get to play in a tournament sponsored by a guy whose pinnacle as a musician was likely before all of them were born. Heading into day two, the good guys are in 11th place.

This Week’s Tournament: The Hootie at Bulls Bay

When: March 24-26

Where: Charleston, S.C.

Golfweek Rankings: Team: No. 48

The Course: Bulls Bay, Charleston, SC. A Mike Strantz design right outside of Charleston. That’s not particularly notable until you see a picture of Mike Stantz. Look at this guy. He wants you to come play his course then down a couple of Busch Lights he has chilling in a Styrofoam cooler in the trunk of his Pontiac Fiero. Par 72, 7,220 yards.

The Rebels:

Cecil Wegener (Soph., Jackson, MS): Schizophrenic tournament for Lil’ Precious. Book ended a -2 second round with 2 rounds he’d rather not talk about. Finished T-38.

Jackson Suber (Freshman, Tampa, Fl): Bit of a struggle this week for the Freshmen. Rounds of 76-77-75 did him no favors. T-64.

Josh Seiple (Senior, Castle Rock, CO): Best week of the Spring so far for the Senior. Two rounds under par and a Top 10 finish.

Beau Briggs (Senior, Covington, LA): Wild three rounds in San Diego. Low round of 69 and a high round of 80 something. T-64.

Sarut Vongchaisit (Freshmen, Bangkok, Thailand): Another great week for the freshmen. Another SEC Freshmen of the Week award. +3 score in San Diego got him a Top 20 placement.

Other potential participants: Jack Gnam, Brody Blackmon

The Field: No. 23 South Carolina, College of Charleston, Kent State, No. 35 Kansas, No. 43 West Virginia, Kentucky, No. 42 Iowa State, Mizzou, Wisconsin, No. 27 NC State, Purdue, Virginia, No. 2 Duke

Top individuals who are playing for second: No. 5 Alex Smalley – Duke, No. 10 Chandler Eaton – Duke, No. 26 Stephen Franken – NC State, No. 30 Scott Stevens – South Carolina, No. 32 Harry Hillier – Kansas, No. 44 Will Miles – South Carolina

If you want to follow the action: Golfstat and Ole Miss Men’s Golf Twitter have you covered this week.

Next Tournament: Old Waverly Collegiate Championship, West Point, Miss. Let’s just do our dead level best to pretend we aren’t in shouting distance of the Chili's in Starkville here.