Southern Miss Athletics

The Southern Miss men’s golf team kicked off its spring season on February 10 in Semmes, Alabama, at the Hall Williams Collegiate, hosted by South Alabama. The team finished in 8th place out of 13 teams, completing the three-round tournament with a score of 844, eight-under-par.
The event, which took place over two days, featured 36 holes on February 10 and 18 holes to conclude on February 11. In the first round, the Golden Eagles struggled, finishing three over par. However, the team rebounded with a solid second round of nine-under-par, moving up the leaderboard. Despite a shift in weather conditions, including rain, the Golden Eagles maintained their composure, finishing the final round with a team total of two-under-par.
Southern Miss Head Coach Eddie Brescher reflected on the team’s performance.
“An eighth-place finish is not up to our standards and does not reflect how good of a team we are,” he said. “However, there were many positives we will take away from our play in Mobile. The field was formed by teams like SMU, Kansas State, and Kent State among others. Coming into this tournament, I felt our team would perform at an elite level. But as golf always does, we were humbled quickly. Our team is filled with world-class players who can play good golf any day now.”
The Golden Eagles’ strong second-round performance helped them move up from 9th place after the first round.
“Our first round was very slow,” Brescher noted. “The guys made a bunch of sloppy bogeys. That made it difficult to get to the top of the leaderboard by the start of the tournament. However, they fought until the end during the second round to finish the day with the third-best round of the day.”
The Southern Miss lineup included Matthew Javier, Benjamin Fernandez, Filip Sakota, Ryan Dupuy, and Will Burnham. Sakota, an international athlete from Italy, shared his thoughts on the experience.
“This event was a completely different experience,” he said.
Despite the team’s challenges, there was optimism moving forward.
“Shooting the third-best score was a sheer complement to our potential and what we could achieve,” Brescher said.
Sakota echoed similar sentiments.
“After a long day of golf, the camaraderie amongst my fellow teammates was unmatched,” he said.
Javier, a freshman from Toronto, had the standout performance for the Golden Eagles, firing a four-under-par 67 in the final round. His 208 total score placed him tied for 15th in the individual standings. Javier was the only Southern Miss player to shoot par or below in all three rounds.
Sakota finished his first tournament as a Golden Eagle with a one-under-par 212, tying for 28th place. He also shot par or below in each of his rounds. Dupuy and Fernandez tied for 36th place with scores of 214, and Burnham rounded out the team’s performance with a 216, placing him in 52nd.
The final standings saw No. 15 SMU taking first place with a total score of 827, followed by Kent State (828), Kansas State (832), and other teams, including Southern Miss in 8th place with 844.
Southern Miss will look to build on this performance as they head to the Dorado Beach Collegiate in Puerto Rico, set for February 23-25.
Brescher is confident about the team’s potential.
“If our guys start clicking, we have a strong chance to win,” he said. “That would be a huge momentum swing at the mid-way point of our schedule.”