BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –  Mother Nature had a challenge in store for the Illinois State men's golf team Saturday, as winds blowing at 25 miles per hour and gusts near 40 miles per hour suspended action just after the start of the second round of the 2016 Hoosier Invitational at the IU Golf Course.
DAY 1 RESULTS
The Redbirds finished the first round in fifth place overall with a 15-over-par score of 299. Â Western Illinois paced the leaderboard with a 3-over-par 287, followed by Ohio (290), the host Hoosiers (291), Bradley (294) and the Redbirds. All teams had at least started their second round when play was suspended and will return to the course on Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. to complete round two, with the tournament being shortened to just 36 holes.
Redbird underclassmen Trent Wallace and Zach Burry each shot even-par rounds of 71 to tie for seventh place on the individual leader board, just four shots back of leader Lyle Burns of Bradley. Â
"We were able to get off to a solid start in round one, which was big since the winds were expected to pick up significantly making it tougher to build momentum," ISU head coach Ray Kralis said. "While the wind did become a major factor, we showed some toughness, which was a positive. We missed the fourth score we needed, but Trent and Zach were very solid and kept us within striking distance tomorrow with a strong team effort."
Wallace was 2-under through the first nine holes, finishing birdie-birdie to card a 34. Â However, three bogeys on the back nine brought him back to even-par with the final score of 71. Â Burry carded five pars to start the front nine, before posting a birdie on the sixth hole and stayed at 1-under through nine holes. Â A back-and-forth effort on the back nine with two birdies and three bogeys resulted in him tying his teammate at par headed into the second round.
Michael Mounce posted a solid score of 76 to finish in a tie for 31st overall, while Tyler Gentilella (81) and Christian Crabill (82) struggled with the high winds to card scores in the 70s. Â
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