Feb. 18, 2008
Results
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -
Redshirt sophomore Joe Emerich continues to lead the Illinois State men's golf team as he fired a two-round-total of 144 on his way to finishing the first two rounds of the UTSA Oak Hills Intercollegiate in an eighth place tie. Emerich fired back-to-back 72's at the par-71, 6,765-yard Oak Hills Country Club, and is just two strokes out of the top-five.
"Joe has been our most consistent player so far this spring, and played very well again today" said head coach Ray Kralis. "He is getting more confident in his game and is emerging as one of our go-to guys."
As a team, Illinois State finished day one in an 11th place tie with Air Force. The Redbirds tallied a two-round-team-total of 604 (302, 302). Mississippi State leads the 17-team event after posting a two-round-team-total of 567 (292, 275). The Bulldogs also yield the top individual as Noal Goldman leads all players with a two-round-total of 137 (73, 64).
"This has been somewhat of a hectic trip for us so far," said Kralis. We have played a lot of golf thus far and I have seen some positive things in the way our guys are handling themselves. They are learning to accept shots and not worry about scoring all the time. We are learning to focus on the things we can control."
The Oak Hills Country Club also lived up to its reputation a world-class course as no team finished the day under par.
Kralis feels that after settling in today, the Redbirds can move up the leader-board in the final round.
"Our guys did not have a lot of preparation at this course before today and it showed somewhat with our short-game. The course definitely won the battle today against all of the teams here, but hopefully our guys got a good feel for it today and we can take another step tomorrow."
One other Redbird finished the day in the top-50 as sophomore Drew Miller currently stands tied for 42nd with a two-round-total of 151 (74, 77).
The final 18 holes are scheduled for a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Tuesday (Feb. 19).
