Senior Brian Anderson continues to lead the Illinois State mens golf team as he and the Birds sit in third place after day one of the Branson Creek Invitational.
Brian continues his hot play from California, head coach Harland Kilborn said. His steady play is right where we need him to be to continue in leading the team.
Anderson fired a 70 and 71 for a two round total of 141, one under par. Chris Eddy and Walter Brown both stepped up after not competing in several tournaments. Eddy (148) carded a 76 and 72 and is tied for 20th, while Brown (149) started out slow with an 80 but came back with a 69 in the second round.
This is Walters first tournament in a while, he struggled in the first round, but made a huge comeback. That 69 is big for the team, Kilborn said. Weve been looking for our 4 and 5 guys to help out and Chris and Walter really came through.
Adding to the Birds success is Kyle Vasel (73-77) who shot a two round total of 150 and sits tied for 28th and Matt Maskel (75-76) who hit a 151 and is tied for 33rd. Competing as an individual, Dustin Edwards posted a 79-74=153 and is tied for 41st.
This is the first time we got off to a good start in a long time, Kilborn said. We hope to improve on this for tomorrow.
The current standings have Oklahoma City (283-285=568) in first, Nebraska (294-285=579) in second, Illinois State (294-288=582) in third. The rest of the 11 team field is as follows: 4. SMS (303-288=591), 5. Murray State (303-292=595) 6. UNI (301-295=596) and St. Louis University (294-302=596), 8. Western Illinois (298-302=600), 9. Southern Illinois (313-295=608), 10. Bradley (310-307=617), and 11. Creighton (313-308=621).
Individually, Oklahoma Citys Tyrone Van Aswegen (68-70=138) is leading the tournament, UNIs Ben Hanson (70-69=139) is second, Illinois States Brian Anderson (70-71=141) is third, while Oklahoma Citys Andreas Rydholm (70-73=143) and Nicolas Allain (73-70=143) are tied for fourth.
The Branson Creek Invitational concludes Tuesday with a single shotgun start at 8 a.m.
