Sept. 17, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State senior Kyle Bragg will look to build on his sixth-place finish at the Fairway Club Invitational as he leads the same group that took fourth place into the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate in Manhattan, Kan. The tournament will be held at the Colbert Hills Golf Club with the first 36 holes beginning with a shotgun start Monday at 8:30 a.m.
Bragg has been men's golf head coach Ray Kralis' most consistent golfer through the first two tournaments, leading the team with a scoring-average of 72. Kralis is looking for Bragg or one of his other veteran players to step up and earn some hardware this week.
"We're going with a great group and we certainly look to be in the mix come Tuesday," Kralis said. "We need to make that statement and keep building momentum. I look for one of our key guys to break out and we need a guy who's in there competing for that title individually on Tuesday. If we get a couple of guys doing that then team-wise, we'll be in good shape and we got guys that can do just that."
In addition to Bragg, seniors Tommy Bliefnick and Joe Emerich along with junior Jeff Kellen and sophomore Eric Meier will compete.
"The toughest part right now is just being patient and continuing to prepare, but the expectations are still high coming off of a fourth-place finish last week," Kralis said. "We need three rounds from our key guys and they are experienced enough for us to compete for the title, we need them putting up three solid rounds for us. If they do that then we are going to be right there."
Participants in the tournament include Florida Gulf Coast, Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri-Kansas City, Missouri State, Oral Roberts, South Dakota State and Western Illinois.
"To be in the top three we're going to have to go and play well but I'm confident that we will do that," Kralis said. "We're looking forward to a great golf course and it should be a great tournament."
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