Feb. 24, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State junior Jeff Kellen captured his second Missouri Valley Conference Golfer of the Week of the season after he tied for third place at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate in Mobile, Ala. His effort led the Redbirds to a second- place finish in the 18-team field.
The Rockford, Ill., native, who was named MVC Golfer of the Week in October after winning the Weibring Intercollegiate, fired a 1-under-par 215 (70-71-74) at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate. The Redbirds finished with a 14-over-par 878 (293-293-292) for the tournament, which was just one shot behind first-place Mississippi.
Head coach Ray Kralis is happy to see Kellen develop his game and become one of the top players at tournaments.
"Jeff's play was just a product of hard work," Kralis said. "He continues to raise the level of his game during his time here and he is moving into the upper echelon of players in the fields we go to on a weekly basis. It was great to see him in the hunt again and he played well enough throughout the tournament to win. I love having someone rewarded for their hard work and it's great to see that pay off. I'm real happy for him and proud of the effort he is putting forth and obviously he's becoming one of our go-to guys on the team. I look for bigger and better things as the season goes on."
Kellen and the Redbirds will travel to Placida, Fla., to take on in-state rival Illinois Saturday. The match-play tournament will be held at the Coral Creek Club.
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