LAFAYETTE, La. – Shooting back-to-back rounds of 290 and 292 – the lowest two rounds of the young 2021 spring season, the Illinois State Redbirds stand in seventh place in a strong field at the 36th Annual Louisiana Classics, hosted by the University of Louisiana.
Illinois State, with its 582, enters the final day of the tournament eight strokes behind third-place Sam Houston State (574). Illinois has run away with a big lead in the event with a two-round 555, while host Louisiana is second with a 568. North Texas (577), Rice (578), and Louisiana Monroe (580) are just ahead of the Redbirds, while Southern Illinois (585), UTEP (589), Texas State (589), UMKC (592), Michigan (592), Oral Roberts (593), and McNeese State (596) round out the squads in the 14-team field.
"We got contributions from everyone over the two rounds, and we have a great opportunity to make a move with a strong team effort tomorrow," said Illinois State head coach Ray Kralis. "We had a number of holes in the red today, so the confidence is high. We just can't give shots back to the field."
The Redbirds take back to the course tomorrow morning with a 7:30 start time, along with players from UTEP and Southern Illinois.
Leading the way for ISU is senior David Perkins who after 36 holes is at even-par and tied for 18th in the field. Parker Wisdom is tied for 32nd with a three-over 147, while Joe Hodgson and Felix van Dijk are tied at four shots over par and tied for 43rd. Dan Anfield is a stroke behind with a 148 and tied for 50th in the field of 81 golfers.
Perkins opened his day with a two-over 74 over the first 18 holes, a round that saw the senior record four birdies and nine pars. He came out firing to start his second round of the day, opening with an eagle on his first hole of the round, and followed with a pair of pars and then three consecutive birdies to crop his score to five strokes under par. He had three pars and three bogeys over his next six holes, before closing his day with a birdie, a bogey, and four pars over his last six holes to end the second round with a two-under 70.
Wisdom started his day strong with a pair of birdies and six pars over his first eight holes, and was never over par on the round, as he had a total of four birdies, three bogeys and 13 pars. On his second round he opened with a par and came back with an eagle to drop to two strokes under par. Over his final 16 holes he had a birdie and eight pars, closing the round at four strokes over par, and three shots over par for the 36 holes.
Hodgson was one of two Redbirds with an eagle in the first round, as he recorded his on the par-five third hole on the course, as he had an eagle, a birdie, and 11 pars over his first 18 holes, closing the round with a two-over 74. While his opening round was balanced, consisting primarily of pars, his second round saw five birdies and seven pars for his second consecutive 74.
van Dijk ended his opening round with a team-best 70 (-2), a round that he recorded five birdies and 10 pars and was over par for just two total holes – his second and third of the round. After the first 18 holes, he followed with a second-round 78, as he had a pair of birdies and eight pars in the round.
Anfield shot an even-par 72 over his first 18 holes, as he was never over par, as he opened with six pars, before a bogey dropped him to a stroke under par. He followed with a birdie and two bogeys over his final 11 holes to end the round with a 72 – his third at or under par round of the year. Over his second round he was the fourth Redbird on the day to record an eagle, and added a pair of birdies and seven pars en route to his five-over 77 to close the day.
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