Live Scoring
NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State men's golf team returns to the links Monday for its first official tournament of the spring season, as the Redbirds will compete in South Alabama's Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate Feb. 20-21 at the par-72, 7,212-yard Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course.
The tournament features a 54-hole stroke-play format, with the first two rounds Monday, starting with a shotgun start at 8 a.m., and the last 18 holes beginning Tuesday at 8 a.m. Live scoring throughout the tournament will be available at GolfStat.com, and complete results will be posted following the completion of each round.
Fifteen teams will be competing in the tournament. Joining the Redbirds and host South Alabama are Abilene Christian, Alcorn State, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Georgia State, Kansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisville, Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, Texas State, West Virginia and Western Kentucky.
Teams are constructed with five student-athletes, and only the top-four scores count towards the school's overall total in each round.
The Redbirds will be represented by junior Zach Burry, freshman David Perkins, sophomore Trent Wallace, senior Christian Crabill and senior Austin Havens.
Junior Jason Marrs will be competing as an individual in the USA Individual Tournament at the par-71, 7,158-yard Magnolia Grove Falls Golf Course. This tournament will run on the same time schedule as the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate. Statistics for the tournament will also be available at GolfStat.com.
"I am excited to get back into team competition," head coach Ray Kralis said. "We took a number of positives from the fall, but we know we all start back at zero come Monday. I am comfortable with our preparation, as we've been fortunate to get outside with decent weather and some of the guys took advantage of the holiday break to compete. We want to use these next couple events to ramp things up so we are at our best come April, but I believe we are ready to go right now."
The Redbirds finished in 11th place in last year's Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate tournament with a three-round total of 883 (303-295-285). Auburn, currently ranked eighth in the nation, led the field after shooting an impressive 26-under-par 838 (278-282-278), followed by Chattanooga and Wake Forest.
Last month, the Redbirds traveled to Placida, Florida, to compete in an alumni match with Illinois, who is currently ranked second in the nation. While the match did not count as an official competition, it allowed both teams to get some practice in before the start of the spring season.
Illinois State looks to carry its strong play into the spring season after almost a three-month break from competition.
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