Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. – Men's Golf finished day one of the Mission Inn Spring Spectacular in third place in Howey-in-the-Hills Florida. Illinois State is one of 18 teams in the field for this tournament.
Illinois State ended the first day of the tournament five strokes under par and sit in third place. The Redbirds are just three strokes behind Kansas State, who are in first place. The squad ended the first round of the day in first place.
Junior Joel Durnford leads the team after finishing the first day five strokes under par (71-68). Durnford shot five birdies in the back nine holes in the second round. He is tied for third individually.
Assisting Durnford in leading the team is sophomore Daniel Anfield. Anfield shot an even par in the second round but got off to a great start shooting three under par in the first round including six birdies. He is tied for fifth individually.
Senior David Rauer is tied for 13th individually after shooting even par in the first two rounds of the tournament. Rauer shot two over par in the second round after shooting two under par in the first round.
Junior David Perkins ended the day with a score of 150 after missing the squad's last tournament. Perkins shot three strokes under par in the first round including four birdies. Senior Trent Wallace and sophomore Andrew O'Brien both ended the day with a score of 151. Freshman Ben Tyrell ended with a score of 173.
"The guys were quick out of the gate and put together a great team effort of 9 under in round 1," coach Ray Kralis said. "It was great to see them stay on the offensive as round two developed and stretch the lead even more. Not many teams are capable of doing that. While it was disappointing to give some back, we are in the final wave with a chance to win, and this group has me excited about tomorrow. When everyone is making contributions, this team can compete anywhere. Joel and Dan were solid all day and gave us a big lift, and we'll go into the final round very confident in one another."
The squad returns to the field for the final round with a shotgun start at 7:15 a.m. CT.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
