Ole Miss men’s golf logs runner-up finish at Old Waverly, preps for SEC Tournament

Everybody loves a good redemption story, especially when it involves our beloved REBEL GOLF SONS. Coming off of the worst team performance of the season in Charleston, the team had a few weeks to stew before heading to the unfriendly confines of the Mississippi Golden Triangle and the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship.

Day one was a full, 36-hole affair that saw our lads nestle in comfortably at the top of the leader board at -14, one shot behind No. 4-ranked Vanderbilt and out-of-completely-nowhere-to-birdie-everything UL-Monroe at -22.

Senior Beau Briggs led the day for the Rebels, carding an even par round of 72 to start, but rallying deep into his birdie bag in the second frame to shoot a -6 (66). That 66 tied OUR GRATIOUS LORD THORNBERRY for a lowest-round ever shot by a Rebel at the Old Waverly event. Briggs got help all the way down the roster on Day one, too. Freshmen Jackson Suber and Jack Gnam both put together impressive first and second rounds to finish at -3 while Cecil Wegener and Josh Seiple rounded out the first day scoring with even par totals.

Down eight shots to the leaders after Day one, the Rebs needed some large efforts from its ranks in the final round and no one was bigger for our heroes than Jackson Freakin’ Suber. The Tampa freshmen backed up his solid day one with a record setting Day two, dropping a -7 (65) on the field. The round bested Brigg’s round from the day before as the lowest round ever shot by a Rebel in the tournament at Old Waverly.

Suber finished at -10 for the tournament, a solo 2nd-place finish behind Middle Tennessee State’s Marcus Byrd, who ran away from the field with a -13 total.

While the individual title was settled, the team title was very much in doubt. Over the course of the day, the Rebels had been able to chip away at the ULM lead. Jack Gnam and Cecil Wegener carded +3 and +2 scores, respectively, to help the team pull even with ULM at -16 total with only one Rebel golfer, Beau Briggs left out on the course. Briggs was paired with the only ULM golfer left, Otto Van Buynder. Both golfers went Par-Birdie on 16 and 17, setting the stage for some down-to-the-wire drama on 18.

Unfortunately, Briggs could only muster par on the final hole while ULM’s Van Buynder closed with birdie and an improbable win for the Sun Belt team. The final outcome saw ULM on top with a -18, Ole Miss come in 2nd at -17, and No. 4 Vandy finish 3rd at -15. The final score of -17 by Ole Miss would have won the tournament every year but for ULM’s remarkable play over the two day stretch.

While a win would have been nice, it was by no means a disappointing week for Rebel Golf. The team showed some nice resiliency coming off the prior week’s disappointment. Besting nationally-ranked Vandy as well as Mississippi State at Old Waverly should give the team some nice confidence headed into Conference Tournament play.

This Week’s Tournament: SEC CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK!

When: April 24-28

Where: Sea Island, Ga.

Golfweek Rankings: Team: No. 52

The Course: Sea Island Golf Club. This course is one of the pair of Sea Island Courses that hosts the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic and is one of the premier training grounds for several professional golfers on any number of tours. Sea Island is fancy as hell. Where else can you get 18 in, pop off a few rounds at sporting clays, then cap the day off with some casual falconry?

The Rebels:

Cecil Wegener (Soph., Jackson, MS): Solid week for Cecil. Registered a team score for all 3 rounds and finished T-36 at +2.

Jackson Suber (Freshman, Tampa, Fl): I mentioned in the previous recap that you might as well just keep Suber’s name on the SEC Freshmen of the week trophy from week to week. Well, they did after he finished in solo second place at -10, including a record low round of 65 at Old Waverly.

Josh Seiple (Senior, Castle Rock, CO): Up and down couple of rounds in West Point. Was Even after Day one but had a rough go in the final round to finish T-48.

Beau Briggs (Senior, Covington, LA): Very solid week for the Senior. Went low in Round two with a -6 (66). Scored a top-five finish at -7.

Jack Gnam (Freshmen, Ridgeland, MS): Rare team start for Gnam and he didn’t disappoint. Finished the tournament at even par, T-26.

Other potential participants: Sarut Vongchaisit, Brody Blackmon

The Field: The SEC

Top individuals who are playing for second: No. 9 Will Gordon — Vandy, No. 14 Trent Phillips – UGA, No. 18 Chandler Phillips — A&M, No. 24 Scott Stevens — USC, No. 25 Will Miles — USC, No. 27 Patrick Martin — Vandy, No. 30 John Augenstein — Vandy, No. 39 Philip Barbaree — LSU, NO. 45 Jovan Rebula — Auburn

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

Next Tournament: NCAA REGIONALS. Site TBD