The summer is an important development period for all collegiate golfers.
After round one of The Dogwood Invitational at Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga., Kye Meeks of Ole Miss is off to a hot start to his 2024 summer.
Meeks, a rising senior at Ole Miss, shot a first-round 9-under 83 with ten birdies and one bogey to lead the invitational by two shots. Meeks opened up his round with a bogey on No. 2 and was 1-over through the first three holes. Then, he rattled off ten birdies in 15 holes to go low at Druid Hills.
"They do a great job here," Meeks told the Dogwood after his round. "They do a good job of keeping the vibe here relaxed. It's a competitive event, and there are a ton of good players here, but that's what I love about the event. They keep it cool here."
Meeks won the 2023 Mississippi State Amateur and played in the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills. He made consecutive birdies on holes No 9 through 14 to pull away from the field early. He also finished T4 at the 2023 Dogwood Invitational and seven shots behind the champion, Hunter Logan.
In the same group as Meeks was Buck Brumlow, who is currently T2 at 7-under after an opening round of 7-under 65. Brumlow is no stranger to getting off to a hot start at The Dogwood, as he shared the opening round lead with Alex Goff last year as well at 6-under.
"Me and Buck are good friends; we have known each other for a while," Meeks told the Dogwood. "I just tried to hit it one shot at a time and keep doing my thing, and we just kind of fed off each other."
Patrick McCann and Hans Risvaer are also T2 at 7-under with Brumlow.
Maxwell Ford, who finished T2 last year with Neal Shipley, the 2024 low amateur at the Masters, is currently T5 at 6-under with Garrett Rank and Shubham Jaglan. His caddy for the tournament is his brother, David Ford, who also plays for North Carolina and is ranked No. 5 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
After the opening 18 holes, Carson Bacha and Hunter Logan, the 2022 and 2023 champions, are both 3-under and T19.
The history of this prestigious event extends back to 1941 when legendary amateur Tommy Barnes captured his first of five Dogwood titles. Evolving with the times, the modern Dogwood has produced fine champions like Webb Simpson (’07), Brian Harman (’09), Dawson Armstrong (’15), and in 2019 Brandon Mancheno.