COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Illinois State Redbirds carded the second-lowest team round in program history – a one-under 287 – during the second round of the 2021 Johnie Imes Invitational, hosted by Missouri, despite golfing with only four in the scoring group due to an injury.
ISU's round of 287 is the fourth-lowest round in the tournament thus far, and is the second lowest in school history, behind only the 286 the team put up at last season's Mid-America Stroke Play Challenge. What made the feat even more remarkable was the fact that reigning MVC Golfer of the Week Maria Toledo Bailey did not play for ISU because of injury, leaving the team without a safety net of a throw-away score.
Two golfers – Kehler Koss and Ali Schrock – each finished the round two shots under par with a 70, as Avalon Woodward carded an even-par 72, and Vinisha Gunaseelan a three-over 75. Koss' two-round total of 144 is at even par, and the 10th-best score in the field, as Schrock sits one shot over par through the second round and is tied for 11th. Woodward, who is two strokes over par for the tournament is tied for 15th, while Gunaseelan is tied for 49th.
The Redbirds have a two-round total of 590, good for a tie of fourth place in the strong 14-team field with Arkansas State. Host Missouri has a stranglehold on the lead with a 569, as second place Wichita State has a 585 and Oral Roberts a 587. Mercer (593), Northern Illinois (593), Little Rock (598), Missouri State (603), Missouri "B" (605), Eastern Kentucky (610), Bradley (611), South Dakota (611), and UAB (629) round out the 14 schools in the tournament.
The Redbirds close play in the tournament on Wednesday morning with an 8 a.m. shotgun start, as ISU will play alongside Mercer and Arkansas State for the last 18 holes of the event.
Koss, a transfer from New Mexico State, opened the round with a bogey – one of just three on the round for the graduate student – as she followed that with three pars. She hit a hot stretch around the turn, as she had birdies on the fifth, sixth, ninth, and 10th holes to drop her score to three shots under par. A pair of bogeys late in the round pushed her score to one shot under par; however, she closed strong with a birdie on the final hole to finish with the two-under score.
Schrock had a remarkable front nine, with three birdies (on the third, fifth, and sixth holes), to go with five pars, as she made the turn three shots under par. She had two bogeys mixed in a group with six pars to kick off her back nine, but finished with a bang, as she birdied the par-four 18th hole to finish with the two-under 70.
Woodward had as balanced of a roller-coaster round as you can get, as she had equal totals of birdies, pars, and bogeys, en route to her even-par 72. She was two over through the first five holes, before she caught fire with four bogeys over a file hole span, the last one coming on the par-five 10th hole. She alternated bogeys and pars for the next four holes, before doing the same with birdies and bogeys over her final four holes, as she added a birdie on the par-five 15th hole and the par-four 17th hole.
Gunaseelan stumbled at the start of the round, with three bogeys over her first four holes, but recovered to close her front nine with three pars and two birdies – one each on the sixth and ninth holes – and made the turn at a stroke over par. Her back nine start was similar to her start on the front, with bogeys on three of her first five holes; however, three pars and a birdie in her final four holes secured the three-over 75 finish.
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