WEST POINT — The back nine is generally not the friendly side of Old Waverly Golf Club.
It was for freshman Tanapat Pichaikool on Monday.
Pichaikool made the turn at even par and carded three birdies on the back nine to lead the Mississippi State men’s golf team with a 3-under-par 69. The team carded a 1-over-par 289, which is tied for fourth with 18 holes left to play in the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship.
“Same thing I’ve seen from him all year, all semester. He keeps the ball in play and hits it far,” MSU coach Clay Homan said. “(Sophomore Ross Bell) and (Pichaikool) both played well in San Antonio (at the Lone Star Invitational, where MSU finished third), and they just kept it going.”
MSU’s Ross Bell and individual player Garrett Johnson fired identical opening rounds of 1-under-par 71 and are tied for ninth.
South Florida and Kennesaw State are tied atop the team leaderboard, six shots ahead of MSU. Lipscomb one shot behind them. MSU is tied with Chattanooga entering today’s final round.
Pichaikool said he struggled from the tee in carding three bogeys on the front nine, including bogeys on the par-3 third and the par-4 fifth, which each saw 18 bogeys from the 84-man field. Homan saw Pichaikool’s turnaround begin on No. 9, which he birded to get back to even par and begin a three-hole birdie streak.
Pichaikool played even par golf from there, excluding his birdie on No. 16 to get down to 3-under.
Bell scored his 71 in the more traditional way, taking advantage of the front nine with four birdies before three bogeys on the back nine set him back to 1-under. Bell led off his round with a bogey, but he birdied to get back on track before the par-4 fourth began his run.
“Had a couple of shaky shots on (No.) 4, then the chip-in got me going on the front side,” Bell said.
Play was delayed for multiple hours after the course took more than three inches of rain. The tournament was originally scheduled for 54 holes — 36 Monday and 18 Tuesday — but the rain forced the tee times to be moved back to the afternoon, which canceled the first round.
Homan considered the course “playable” despite the amount of rain it absorbed. The tournament continued with pick, clean, and place rules for the fairways and bunkers treated as ground under repair given the standing water seen in greenside bunkers around Nos. 9 and 18.
Several players saw noticeable changes in the course from Sunday’s practice round, when Homan considered the course dry.
“It’s gettable because it’s so soft, but you have to hit it well,” South Florida’s Jimmy Jones said. “If you can carry the ball upward of 290, 300 yards, which a decent amount of guys do nowadays. You can turn a day like this and hit one club less than everybody else, which makes a big difference in the end.”
Jones gave one example on No. 9. On Sunday, his approach shot came from 248 yards out, while Monday’s came from 275 yards away.
Jones birdied his final two holes and finished as part of the five-way tie for third that included Pichaikool at 3-under 69. The pack is chasing Lipscomb’s Dawson Armstrong and Kennesaw State’s Chris Guglielmo, who shot 7-under 65s.
Jackson Dick (1-over-73) and Taylor Grant (4-over 76) rounded out MSU’s team score.
Homan was disappointed to include a 76 in the team score and has an improvement in mind as MSU tries to chase down the lead today.
“We’ve got wedge it a little better, take advantage of the par 5s,” he said. “No. 10, we went 1-over-par and that’s a pretty easy hole. That’s kind of our Achilles’ heel sometimes. We have to get it in closer and give ourselves more chances at birdies.”
For Ole Miss, sophomore Braden Thornberry fired an opening 3-under-par 69, while senior Ben Wolcott carded a 2-under 70.
Thornberry rolled in five birdies to finish 2-under on the front nine and posted a 1-under on the back nine. The Olive Branch native is tied for third with four individuals entering the final round. Wolcott birdied three of his first four holes and finished tied for ninth.
Ole Miss is in seventh with a team score of 5-over 291, ahead of last year’s champion McNeese State by two strokes after what was nearly a seven-hour round.
Sophomore Josh Seiple shot a 3-over par 75, and senior Noah West fired a 1-under on the front nine and ended the first round with a 5-over 77. Junior Kerry Sweeney posted two birdies on the front nine and finished at 7-over par.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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