Aidan Gallardo
The Ole Miss men’s golf team competed in their first tournament of the 2022 season on Sept. 12-13 and finished in a tie for sixth place at the Badger Invitational.
Last year’s team was fairly up-and-down, ending the season with a 14th place finish at the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The shining star was Jackson Suber, who consistently finished at the top of the leaderboard during each tournament in which he played.
With Suber’s departure, who will fill his shoes this season?
There are some familiar faces that returned such as redshirt sophomore Kye Meeks, redshirt junior Brett Schell and senior Sarut Vongchaisit.
But there also are some new shining stars, such as freshman Cameron Tankersley, who immediately made an impact during the first tournament of the season.
When Tankersley, the former No.1 overall recruit in Tennessee, chose to play collegiate golf at Ole Miss, head coach Chris Malloy was thrilled.
The freshman made his presence known at the Badger Invitational, shooting seven-under par that placed him in a tie for third place. Right out of the gates, Tankersley acted like he had been there before.
In the final round, Tankersley shot a 68 (-4) and tallied just one bogey and five birdies that included back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes.
With his third-place finish, Tankersley is the first freshman at Ole Miss to earn a top-five finish since Suber did in the 2018-19 season.
Vongchaisit had a solid tournament and finished with an even score that was good for a 24th-place tie.
The native from Thailand shot a pair of 72s in the two rounds and maintained his steady play as the tournament progressed.
Although graduate transfer Hugo Townsend didn’t start the tournament strong – 76 (+4) in the first round – he was resilient in the second round.
Townsend finished with a score of 72 (E) in the second round which included an incredible eagle shot on the 11th hole.
As a team, the Rebels shot 574 (-2), which wasn’t too bad for their season-opening tournament, especially since there were a few guys that made their collegiate debuts.
Up next for men’s golf is an SEC match-play tournament on Sept. 25 in Birmingham.
Below are Ole Miss’ individual scores from the Badger Invitational.
Individual
T3. Cameron Tankersley: 69 – 68 – 137 (-7)
T29. Sarut Vongchaisit: 72 – 72 – 144 (E)
T41. Tom Fischer: 74 – 72 – 146 (+2)
T53. Hugo Townsend: 76 – 72 – 148 (+4)
T61. Patton Samuels: 75 – 74 – 149 (+5)
