Oct. 19, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's golf team will look to build off a third-place finish at the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate and develop a sense of consistency as it travels to Hopkinsville, Ky. for the Austin Peay State University Intercollegiate Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 22-23.
"From a team standpoint, patience and consistency are our biggest things," said head coach Ray Kralis. "We were able to play pretty well at home and that gave the guys confidence to keep moving towards where we need to be."
The Redbirds will be led by sophomore Tommy Bliefnick who is coming off a career low 63 and a fourth-place tie at the Weibring Intercollegiate. Also competing for Illinois State are junior Ben Murphy, redshirt sophomore Joe Emerich, sophomore Drew Miller and true freshman Will Cullen.
Although Illinois State found success at home, much of the fall season has been a struggle to find consistency for the young Redbirds. Coach Kralis feels like his team is quickly learning how to play and compete at a high level.
"This is a key stretch for us," said Kralis. "We have a young lineup, but they get more confident each time we practice or play. We got off to a slow start, but we have been seeing a lot of positives in our last few events. For us to get where we want to be, we need four guys playing well from beginning to end. We have had some great individual performances and I think our guys are ready to translate that into team success."
The 18-team APSU Intercollegiate features some familiar competition for the Redbirds. Cincinnati, Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois each finished behind Illinois State at the Weibring Intercollegiate earlier this month in Normal.
The 54-hole tournament will be held at the 6,886 yard, par 72 Links at Novadell. The first 36-holes will be played Monday beginning with an 8 a.m. shotgun start. The final 18-holes are scheduled for a 9 a.m. shotgun start on Tuesday.
