MADISON, Wis. – Senior Zach Burry continued his hot play to start the season Tuesday when he finished in a fourth-place tie on the individual leaderboard (out of 102) at Wisconsin's Badger Invitational. Burry fired a 3-under-par 69 (35-34) in the final round at the par-72, 7,259-yard University Ridge Golf Course to finish with a career-low 54-hole score of 8-under-par 208 (72-67-69). Texas A&M's Chandler Phillips claimed medalist honors with a 12-under-par 204 (66-70-68).
Burry carded a 1-under-par 35 on the front nine, which included three birdies, before shooting a 2-under-par 34 on the back nine, with three more birdies. For the tournament, the Quincy, Illinois, native tallied 16 birdies.
As a team, the Redbirds finished in ninth place in the 16-team field. Illinois State saved its best for last in the final round, shooting a 1-over-par 289 to finish with a three-round total of 876 (293-294-289), two strokes behind eighth-place Kansas State. Texas A&M, who was ranked No. 15 at the end of last year, ran away with the title, as the Aggies finished with a 25-under-par 839 (276-284-279). Overall, seven teams finished under par, which included other top-100 teams in Kansas (No. 40), Iowa State and Nevada. The Jayhawks finished second, Marquette third, Notre Dame fourth and Wisconsin fifth, while the Cyclones (No. 37) and the Wolfpack tied for sixth.
The Redbirds finished ahead of UAB, another top-100 team, Butler, Oakland, Rutgers, Nebraska, South Dakota State and Loyola Chicago.
"Zach (Burry) played another great round to finish off a very solid tournament against a very strong field, and he certainly has momentum on his side going into next week," head coach Ray Kralis said. "Despite our place in the field, we picked up some quality wins and saw glimpses of how we favorably stack up against some of the top teams in the country, and I am excited about getting back into competition next week at Colorado State."
Sophomore David Perkins shot an even-par 72 (35-37) in the final round, which was his best effort over the 54 holes. He produced one birdie, which came on the front nine, one bogie and 16 pars. Overall, he finished with a 6-over-par 222 (74-76-72).
Junior Trent Wallace finished one stroke behind Perkins with a 7-over-par 223 (73-76-74). He shot a 2-over-par 74 (36-38) Tuesday and knocked down four birdies putts, with two coming on each nine. Fellow classmate David Rauer, who was making his Redbird debut in the tournament, produced his lowest score, as he also shot a 2-over-par 74 (37-37) in the final round (with two birdies) to finish with a 225 (75-76-74).
Rounding out the scoring for Illinois State was sophomore Trey Tussey, who shot a 226 (74-75-77). He tallied four birdies in the final round, but his 77 (39-38) did not count towards the team's final-round total.
Senior Jason Marrs, who competed as an individual, bounced back in a big way in the final round to shoot an even-par 72 (33-39), including a 3-under-par 33 with four birdies on the front nine. He finished the round with five birdies and the tournament with a 231 (74-85-72).
"We need to limit our mistakes to where they don't cost us more than one shot because we clearly have enough to recover from that. The double and triple bogeys take their toll and mae it tough to hang with the front-runnres," Kralis said. "I am encouraged by our play during multiple stretches over the course of this event and pleased we posted our lowest team round of the three today. The guys competed and managed themselves very well which is great to see at the start of the season."
Up Next
The Redbirds return to action Sept. 18-19 at Colorado State's Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, Colorado.
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