Ole Miss men’s golf to test “best greens in the Golden State”

Look, sometimes in golf, as in life, things just don’t go your way. There have been times on this recap where that has indeed occurred for our fearless golf sons where we just inform you of the carnage that took place and move on as quickly as possible. Boys, this is one of those times.

It was not to be as all unexpected, since 14 of the 15 teams competing in the Cabo Collegiate were ranked in the Top 50 teams in the country. The competition was stiff, and by all accounts, so were the conditions.

Here, Ill just let head coach Chris Malloy explain.

”To say that this wasn’t our best week would be an understatement,” head coach Chris Malloy said. “We did a very poor job of handling tough conditions against a quality field. As I told our guys, we can either let this define us, or we can use it to fuel our fire and use it as a springboard to succeed as we get closer to postseason play. I’m confident that this group will be better from this experience.”

Jackson Suber ad Sarut Vongchaisit, who have been unquestionably the team’s two best golfers this year, both turned in their worst performances as Rebels in Cabo. Suber started out in decent shape with rounds of 74 and 70, but ballooned to an 83 in the final day to finish in a tie for 69th at +14. Root fared no better with two out of three rounds in the 80s and a T-75 finish.

The bright spots for the week, if there were any to be found, came from Sophomores Charlie Miller and Jack Gnam. Both were able to keep their rounds on the proverbial tracks for the most part of 3 rounds and finish in the top tiers of the individual scoring. Miller finished the week at Even par and a T-22 placement. Gnam was right behind with a +1 total and a T-26.

Overall, the team finished in a tie for 12th place with 39th ranked Houston at +24, finishing ahead of Rice and No. 30 LSU. No. 9 Arizona State won the tournament going away at -20, with No. 6 Texas A&M placing second at -12 and No. 20 Vandy coming in 3rd at -10.

Enough with the unfortunate particulars. On to this week.

This Week’s Tournament: Lamkin San Diego Classic

When: March 9-10

Where: Chula Vista, Calif.

The Course: San Diego Country Club

The home course of Billy Casper is billed as having “The Best Greens in all of Southern California”. Given California’s legal attitudes toward grass these days, that is an extremely heady claim.

The 43rd-ranked Rebels:

Jackson Suber (Soph., Tampa, Fla.): T-69 in Cabo. Held it together in a reasonable fashion until the final round. Looking for a significant bounce back on the West Coast.

Sarut Vongchaisit (Soph., Bangkok, Thailand): Last week was likely an aberration for a guy who has been the most steady hand for the team all year.

Charlie Miller (Soph., Jackson, Miss.): Very solid week for Miller. Total score of even for the week got him into the Top 25 individually in Cabo.

Veeti Mahonen (Freshmen, Kirkkonummi, Finland): Nothing overly remarkable from the Freshmen in Cabo. All rounds over par and a T-64.

Jack Gnam (Sophomore, Ridgeland, Miss.): Back in the lineup last week and made the most of it. Total of +1 and a T-26.

The Field: No. 28 San Diego State, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 7 Arizona State, No. 15 Colorado State, No. 17 North Carolina, No. 31 Tennessee, San Diego State, No. 16 Arizona, and Colorado

The top individuals who will be playing for second: No. 21 Ryan Burnett — UNC, No. 23 Trevor Werbylo — Arizona, No. 31 Walker Lee — Texas A&M, No. 41 Cameron Sick — Arizona State, No. 42 Ryggs Johnston — Arizona State, No. 43 Spencer Cross — Tennessee, No. 47 Chun-An You — Arizona State, No. 48 Puwit Anupansuebsai - San Diego State

Where to follow: Golfstat and Ole Miss Golf Twitter are your go to sources to follow the action

Next Up: The Hootie at Bulls Bay. /whistles “I Only Wanna Be With You” while driving into the ocean.