DALLAS, Texas – DALLAS, Texas – Behind a second-place finish from David Rauer, the Illinois State men's golf team finished in third place Wednesday after shooting a 288 in the final round of Oral Roberts' Bob Sitton Invitational at the par-71 TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas.
The Redbirds concluded the tournament with an 870 (290-292-288), only 5 strokes behind champion North Texas, who finished with an even-par 865 (290-290-285) in the 16-team field. Fellow Missouri Valley Conference foes Western Illinois (913) and Northern Iowa (930) finished in 13th and last, respectively.
Finishing in second place on the individual leaderboard, Rauer, a junior, carded a 3-under-par 68 (34-34) in the final round to finish with a three-round score of 3-under-par 210 (69-73-68). He recorded nine birdies throughout the week.
Senior Zach Burry tallied a 8-over-par 221 (70-77-74) with a 3-over-par 74 (37-37) over the final 18 holes. The senior finished in a tie for 19th-place on the individual leaderboard, including 10 birdies and one eagle throughout the tournament. Junior Trent Wallace ended the tournament right behind Burry in a tie for 22nd-place on the individual leaderboard with a 9-over-par 222 (74-72-76). The junior carded a 5-over-par 76 (38-38) in the final round with six birdies throughout the event.
Sophomore David Perkins began the tournament with an 81, but improved throughout the week carding a 73 and 70 in the second and final rounds. Perkins carded a 224 (81-73-70) with 9 birdies throughout the invitational.
"We had ourselves right in the mix but feel like we let a great opportunity to win slip through our fingers," said head coach Ray Kralis. "We had a few too many unforced errors which is a little uncharacteristic of this squad, but we can take some positives from the fact that we still competed for the title and beat 13 teams in spite of that. David Rauer finished the tournament in strong fashion with a 3 under 68 to lock up second individually. This was a great confidence builder for him and likely a sign of things to come."
The Redbirds return to action Saturday, March 31, when they host Bradley in the I-74 Challenge at Weinbring Golf Course.
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