WEST POINT, Miss.– Led by a pair of 73s, Georgia State shot a final round 6-over 294 to finish fourth at the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship hosted by Mississippi State on Tuesday (April 6th, 2016). Junior Nathan Mallonee led the Panthers with a tie for 12th at 3-over.
Georgia State, which entered the week No. 60 in the latest GolfStat rankings, finished at 16-over par. All five teams in the top five this week entered play among the top 75 teams in the country. The 54-hole event was won by McNeese State which finished at 2-over par. Ole Miss finished second at 8-over, with Lipscomb coming in third at 11-over. Kansas State finished three strokes behind the Panthers in fifth at 19-over.
Mallonee made four birdies to shoot a final round 73 and earn his seventh top 25 in just 10 events this year.
“Overall, I think this was a good week for us,” head coach Joe Inman said. “We identified a few things that we want to work on going into the conference tournament. Although we did not play our best for the week, we tied for the low round on the final day and it is always important to finish strong. We will take that and use it as momentum going forward.”
Senior JJ Grey added a final round 1-over 73 to finish tied for 17th at 5-over par, while freshman Nick Budd tied for 22nd at 6-over par after shooting 76 on Tuesday. It marked the second-straight top 25 finish for Budd.
Sophomores Alexander Herrmann and Max Herrmann tied for 29th at 8-over par as both shot final round 74s.
Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss shot a final round 69 to earn a three stroke win at 7-under par. McNeese State’s Duncan McNeill finished second at 4-under, while South Alabama’s Peter Staalbo finished third at 2-under. A group of four finished tied for fourth at even par. The group included Kansas State’s Matt Green, Lipscomb’s Dawson Armstrong, McNeese State’s Martin Eriksson and Noah West of Ole Miss.
Georgia State will return to the course April 24-27 for the Sun Belt Conference Championship at The Raven in Miramar Beach, Fla. The winner will receive the league’s automatic bid to NCAA Regional play in May.