Sept. 2, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State senior Tommy Bliefnick won a share of the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week award with Drake's Ben Freeman Wednesday. It is the first time Bliefnick has received the award in his career.
The Decatur, Ill., native's third-round score of 74 put him in a tie for 14th place with a final score of 217 at the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Blue Top Ridge Golf Club in Riverside, Iowa, Tuesday. He also shot a 69 and 74 in the first two rounds. The 'Birds wrapped up the three-day tournament with a final score of 890 putting them in 10th place in the field of 15 teams.
Men's golf head coach Ray Kralis was proud of his senior's performance at the team's first tournament.
"It's great for Tommy to get off to this kind of start, it was big for our team," Kralis said. "He's a senior with a ton of experience and we're going to be riding his back all year long. He proved again he's capable of playing with the best players in the country. We look for that kind of performance from him on a fairly consistent basis and it's great to see him rewarded for that."
Bliefnick and the `Birds next stop will be at the Fairway Club Invitational Sept. 14-15 in Nebraska City, Neb. The tournament will be held at the Arbor Links Golf Course.
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