Sept. 15, 2009
Final Stats
NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. -
Kyle Bragg continued to show why he was a 2009 All-Valley selection. The Illinois State senior finished in sixth place after firing a third round 2-under-par 70 at the Fairway Club Invitational at the Arbor Links Golf Club Tuesday. The Redbirds wrapped up the two-day tournament in fourth place out of the 12-team field, finishing with an 8-over-par 872 (291-287-294).
Men's golf head coach Ray Kralis knows his teams putting must improve to give themselves a better chance for victory.
"Unfortunately we struggled again on the greens today," Kralis said. "We had a lot of good ball striking, but we did not get much out of our rounds from a scoring standpoint."
Sophomore Eric Meier rebounded from a tough first day to finish his third round with a 1-under-par 71. His three-round effort put him in a tie for 37th place with a 224 (75-78-71). Senior Tommy Bliefnick tied for 23rd place after posting a 221 (76-70-75). Senior Joe Emerich, 223 (71-74-78), and junior Jeff Kellen, 223 (73-71-79), finished the tournament tied for 33rd place.
"Kyle had a really strong tournament and him being under par was huge for us," Kralis said. "Just two tournaments into the year, I'm continuing to see a lot of positives from Eric. Overall, collectively it was a team effort. We didn't have the kind of play we needed to win but yet we were up near the top and not too far away from a scoring standpoint."
Drake captured first place with a 12-under-par 852 (279-283-290). Nebraska finished in second place after carding a 9-under-par 855 (282-283-290). Kansas rounded out the top-three with a 5-under-par 859 (284-287-288).
Cody Schweinefus of Drake won the individual title after firing a 9-udner-par 207 (69-68-70). His teammate Ben Freeman took second place with a 7-under-par 209 (68-66-75). Kyle Peterman of Western Illinois captured third place after posting a 5-under-par 211 (72-72-67). North Dakota's Dustin Steiner had a hole-in-one on the 235-yard 6th hole.
"We're still moving in the right direction," Kralis said. "We still have high expectations and we'll turn around and head to Kansas State next week."
The `Birds will compete at the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate Sept. 21-22. The tournament will be held in Lawrence, Kan., at the Alvamar Golf Club.
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