Sept. 14, 2009
NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. - Making his season debut, Illinois State junior Jeff Kellen fired an even-par 144 (73-71) and is tied for seventh place with senior Kyle Bragg 144 (72-72) at the Fairway Club Invitational in Nebraska City, Neb., at the Arbor Links Golf Club Monday. Their efforts have put the Redbirds in fourth place 578 (291-287) out of the 12-team field after the first two rounds.
Men's golf head coach Ray Kralis was pleased with the effort of Kellen and Bragg along with the rest of his team.
"We had pretty steady play from Jeff Kellen today which was great to see him step up, and Kyle had two strong rounds," Kralis said. "Everybody had stretches of really good golf."
Senior Joe Emerich is tied for 14th place after carding a 1-over-par 145 (71-74). Senior Tommy Bliefnick rebounded from a tough opening round to move up in the standings into a tie for 17th place after finishing 2-over-par 146 (76-70). Sophomore Eric Meier is tied for 47th place as he posted a 9-over-par 153 (75-78).
"Overall we played pretty solid as a team," Kralis said. "We hit the ball really well and I thought we gave ourselves a lot of good looks on the greens, but it just seemed like we struggled putting. We had a lot of lip outs and quite a number of three puts. We're a pretty good putting team so it's not one of those things I'm overly concerned about. We're looking forward to starting fresh tomorrow."
Missouri Valley Conference rival, Drake, is in first place with a 14-under-par 562 (279-283), host Nebraska is in second place after carding an 11-under-par 565 (282-283) and Kansas is in third place with a 5-under-par 571 (284-287).
Ben Freeman of Drake is in first place after firing a 10-under-par 134 (68-66), his teammate Cody Schweinefus is in second place with a 7-under-par 137 (69-68) and Andrew Wyatt of Nebraska rounded out the top-three after posting a 5-under-par 139 (68-71).
"To catch those leaders we're going to need something special tomorrow," Kralis said. "We've got a group that can do it and overall everybody's mood is pretty good. We're looking forward to getting another crack at making some puts tomorrow. It will be a fun day and I'm looking forward to seeing how we will respond."
Tuesday's third round will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
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