The University of Mississippi Athletics
Tuesday, April 6
Birmingham, Ala. | Country Club of Birmingham
Ole Miss
at
The Collegiate Invitational at the Country Club of Birmingham
Rebels Rise Up Leaderboard on Moving Day
4/6/2021 | Men's Golf
<i class="icon-list"></i> Team Leaderboard<i class="icon-list"></i> Individual Leaderboard<i class="icon-list"></i> Final Round Pairings
Gnam’s 70 Leads the Way as Ole Miss Vaults into Top Five
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For the second consecutive day, The Country Club of Birmingham proved to be a daunting test. When all was said and done, the Ole Miss men's golf team improved its position on The Collegiate Invitational leaderboard by moving into fifth place ahead of three top-25 teams heading into tomorrow's final round.
The greens were firm and fast, while the pins were tucked throughout the par 71 course. However, the Rebels remained steady and fired a second round 290 (+6) on a day where all 14 teams shot over par. Ole Miss jumped into the top 5 (+11), just eight shots back of co-leaders No. 4 Clemson and No. 19 Tennessee (+3). Through two rounds, the Rebels paced the field in par-4 scoring (+2) and total birdies (30).
"The course was certainly tougher today," said head coach Chris Malloy. "Pin placements were probably the toughest collection of what they'll be over these three days, so definitely a tough test for sure. We didn't get off to the greatest start, but again, held in there. That's something we weren't able to do a whole lot in the fall, and now we've done that two days in a row."
The first Rebel on the course was Jack Gnam, who got Ole Miss off to a strong start with a 1-under 70. Gnam's scorecard was only one of eight under-par rounds on Tuesday. The solid round vaulted him 37 spots up the individual leaderboard into a tie for 26th at 4-over (76-70—146). Gnam got off to a tough start with bogeys on four of his first six holes. However, he broke a streak of three straight bogeys with a birdie on No. 7 to spark him the rest of his day. Gnam played the final 12 holes without a bogey, recording four birdies along the way. Coming in with a 33 (-3) on the back nine, including a birdie on No. 18, he finished his day in red figures.
All of Gnam's team-high five birdies were on par 4s. Playing them 2-under through two rounds, Gnam ranks second in the field in par-4 scoring.
"He's continued to get better each week," said Malloy. "You have a round like that today, where he's leading our team and giving us a chance to win this tournament."
Brett Schell remained in the top 10 with a 1-over 72, tied for sixth at even par through 36 holes of play (70-72—142). The redshirt-freshman caught fire towards the end of his opening nine, making three birdies over a five-hole stretch. He birdied the fifth and seventh before bombing a drive on the 400-yard par 4 ninth. Using a wedge to pitch up to the green, Schell hit the flagstick for a near eagle. However, the ball did not find the bottom of the cup, and Schell tapped in for birdie. He picked up his fourth birdie of the day with a two-putt on the par 5 15th.
Jackson Suber and Sarut Vongchaisit added 74s (+3) to contribute to the team score. Suber recorded four birdies throughout this round, including two on par 5s to improve to a field-best 4-under on the long distance holes this week. Vongchaisit's lone birdie came at the par 4 second with an incredible chip-in from short of the green. He held steady towards the end of his round with pars on nine of the last 10 holes.
The Rebels have 18 holes to make a run at the tournament title. Ole Miss begins tomorrow's final round at 8:20 a.m. CT off the first tee. The Rebels are paired alongside No. 21 Arkansas (+9) and Virginia (+14).
For updates throughout the rest of the tournament, follow @OleMissMGolf on Twitter.
THE REBELS
T6. Schell: 70-72—142 (E)
T21. Suber: 71-74—145 (+3)
T26. Gnam: 76-70—146 (+4)
T32. Vongchaisit: 73-74—147 (+5)
T61. Mahonen: 75-77—152 (+10)
TEAM LEADERBOARD (Rankings: Golfstat)
T1. #19 Tennessee: 286-285—571 (+3)
T1. #4 Clemson: 286-285—571 (+3)
3. #22 North Florida: 283-293—576 (+8)
4. #21 Arkansas: 288-289—577 (+9)
5. Ole Miss: 289-290—579 (+11)
T6. UAB: 296-286—582 (+14)
T6. Virginia: 290-292—582 (+14)
T8. #9 Auburn: 289-295—584 (+16)
T8. #10 Vanderbilt: 287-297—584 (+16)
T8. Charlotte: 289-295—584 (+16)
11. #23 LSU: 292-294—586 (+18)
12. Alabama: 296-299—595 (+27)
13. Mississippi State: 294-304—598 (+30)
14. Kentucky: 302-309—611 (+43)
The greens were firm and fast, while the pins were tucked throughout the par 71 course. However, the Rebels remained steady and fired a second round 290 (+6) on a day where all 14 teams shot over par. Ole Miss jumped into the top 5 (+11), just eight shots back of co-leaders No. 4 Clemson and No. 19 Tennessee (+3). Through two rounds, the Rebels paced the field in par-4 scoring (+2) and total birdies (30).
"The course was certainly tougher today," said head coach Chris Malloy. "Pin placements were probably the toughest collection of what they'll be over these three days, so definitely a tough test for sure. We didn't get off to the greatest start, but again, held in there. That's something we weren't able to do a whole lot in the fall, and now we've done that two days in a row."
The first Rebel on the course was Jack Gnam, who got Ole Miss off to a strong start with a 1-under 70. Gnam's scorecard was only one of eight under-par rounds on Tuesday. The solid round vaulted him 37 spots up the individual leaderboard into a tie for 26th at 4-over (76-70—146). Gnam got off to a tough start with bogeys on four of his first six holes. However, he broke a streak of three straight bogeys with a birdie on No. 7 to spark him the rest of his day. Gnam played the final 12 holes without a bogey, recording four birdies along the way. Coming in with a 33 (-3) on the back nine, including a birdie on No. 18, he finished his day in red figures.
All of Gnam's team-high five birdies were on par 4s. Playing them 2-under through two rounds, Gnam ranks second in the field in par-4 scoring.
"He's continued to get better each week," said Malloy. "You have a round like that today, where he's leading our team and giving us a chance to win this tournament."
Brett Schell remained in the top 10 with a 1-over 72, tied for sixth at even par through 36 holes of play (70-72—142). The redshirt-freshman caught fire towards the end of his opening nine, making three birdies over a five-hole stretch. He birdied the fifth and seventh before bombing a drive on the 400-yard par 4 ninth. Using a wedge to pitch up to the green, Schell hit the flagstick for a near eagle. However, the ball did not find the bottom of the cup, and Schell tapped in for birdie. He picked up his fourth birdie of the day with a two-putt on the par 5 15th.
Jackson Suber and Sarut Vongchaisit added 74s (+3) to contribute to the team score. Suber recorded four birdies throughout this round, including two on par 5s to improve to a field-best 4-under on the long distance holes this week. Vongchaisit's lone birdie came at the par 4 second with an incredible chip-in from short of the green. He held steady towards the end of his round with pars on nine of the last 10 holes.
The Rebels have 18 holes to make a run at the tournament title. Ole Miss begins tomorrow's final round at 8:20 a.m. CT off the first tee. The Rebels are paired alongside No. 21 Arkansas (+9) and Virginia (+14).
For updates throughout the rest of the tournament, follow @OleMissMGolf on Twitter.
THE REBELS
T6. Schell: 70-72—142 (E)
T21. Suber: 71-74—145 (+3)
T26. Gnam: 76-70—146 (+4)
T32. Vongchaisit: 73-74—147 (+5)
T61. Mahonen: 75-77—152 (+10)
TEAM LEADERBOARD (Rankings: Golfstat)
T1. #19 Tennessee: 286-285—571 (+3)
T1. #4 Clemson: 286-285—571 (+3)
3. #22 North Florida: 283-293—576 (+8)
4. #21 Arkansas: 288-289—577 (+9)
5. Ole Miss: 289-290—579 (+11)
T6. UAB: 296-286—582 (+14)
T6. Virginia: 290-292—582 (+14)
T8. #9 Auburn: 289-295—584 (+16)
T8. #10 Vanderbilt: 287-297—584 (+16)
T8. Charlotte: 289-295—584 (+16)
11. #23 LSU: 292-294—586 (+18)
12. Alabama: 296-299—595 (+27)
13. Mississippi State: 294-304—598 (+30)
14. Kentucky: 302-309—611 (+43)
Players Mentioned
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