SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – Junior David Rauer capped off his impressive performance for the Illinois State men's golf team Monday in the final round of Northern Illinois' Northern Intercollegiate, shooting a 1-over-par 73 (36-37) at the par-72, 7,656-yard Rich Harvest Farms, the site of the 2017 NCAA Division I Championship. Overall, Rauer earned an eighth-place tie on the individual leaderboard with a 4-under-par 212 (67-72-73).
"David Rauer shined again finishing inside the top 10 with a very solid 4-under par performance," head coach Ray Kralis said.
As a team, the Redbirds finished in seventh place after shooting a 2-over-par 290 in the final round, tallying up a total score of 6-over-par 870 (281-299-290).
"I was very pleased with how we finished today on a very challenging golf course," Kralis said. "Our 2-over par-290 was a solid team effort and a great response to a disappointing second round yesterday."
Marquette won the 12-team event with a 32-under-par 832 (274-272-286). The Golden Eagles ran away with the tournament early, as they posted a 30-under-par after the first two rounds and finished 13 strokes ahead of second-place Virginia.
"This is the second time we have seen Marquette, and they are as hot as anyone in the country right now," Kralis said. "In addition, Virginia, No. 12 in the country last year, and Iowa State, 37th, both made it to the National Championship last season, so the strength of this field was off the charts.
"We were just eight back of Purdue and six back of Michigan, which is not much over three rounds of golf when you are counting four scores per round. And we picked up a few quality wins, so this was again a nice barometer of where we are as a squad and the potential we have this season."
Junior Trent Wallace finished the final 18 holes by firing a 2-under-par 70 (33-37), which included a birdie and an eagle on the front nine. He finished the tournament with a 1-under-par 215 (74-71-70), good enough for a 17th-place tie.
"Trent Wallace looked more like himself finishing off a solid event inside the top 20 with two under par rounds and a key 70 to lead us today," Kralis said.
Sophomore David Perkins started the tournament by tying a career low 4-under-par 68 (34-34) in the first round which included four birdies and an eagle. Perkins shot a 4-over-par 76 (38-38) in the final round to finish with a 6-over-par 222 (68-78-76).
Senior Zach Burry concluded the final round with a 1-under-par 71 (34-37), which included three birdies. He finished right behind Perkins with an overall score of 223 (74-78-71).
Sophomore Trey Tussey shot a 5-over-par 77 (37-40) in the final round to finish with a 229 (72-80-77), but his score did not count towards the team's overall score.
Competing as an individual, freshman Daniel Anfield finished the tournament with a 4-over-par 76 (38-38) in the final round, with a final score of 236 (80-80-76) in his Redbird debut.
"We are learning more and more about ourselves and will carry momentum into next week's event at Firestone," Kralis said.
Up Next
The Redbirds return to action Oct. 2-3 at Akron's Firestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
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