KETTERING, Ohio – On a cold day on the NCR Country Club, the Illinois State Redbird men's golf squad is in sixth place as the second round was stopped due to darkness with between three and four holes left per golfer in the second round.
Illinois State is +33 at the stoppage, behind only Wright State (+19), Illinois (+19), Marquette (+23), Loyola (+26), and Marshall (+31). Chasing the Redbirds into the final 22 holes are Cleveland State (+34), tournament host Dayton (+34), Eastern Michigan (+35), Xavier (+37), Ball State (+38), Oakland (+39), and Bowling Green (+49).
Leading the way for the Redbirds is senior Valentin Peugnet who is four over par on the day and tied for 11th. Parker Wisdom is tied for 15th at +6. Alex McCulla (t-40th, +11), Felix van Dijk (t-43rd, +12) and Pietro Pontiggia (t-77th, +21) round out the five Redbird golfers in the field.
Peugnet – who opened his day on the par-five fifth hole – started with a birdie; and had 10 pars and four bogeys over his next 14 holes to push to three over par; however, he closed with two pars and a birdie over his last three holes to make the turn between rounds at two shots over par. His second round started with back-to-back birdies, but they were erased with a double-bogey on the third hole of the day. In his next seven holes Peugnet had a birdie and six pars, dropping back to one stroke under par before a three-bogey-in-three-hole stretch pushed him to two over par. He ended his day with a par on his 14th hole of the day before darkness stopped his round.
Wisdom had a strong opening round, finishing with a team-best 72 – one stroke over par. He opened and closed his round with bogeys, and between the two he had three birdies, two bogeys, and 11 pars. Wisdom has three holes remaining in his second round and is five over par over his second 18 holes with 11 pars.
Alex McCulla had an opening round with a birdie and a dozen pars for a four-over 75 and came back with another birdie and seven pars to sit at seven over par in the second round with three holes remaining in the round.
Felix van Dijk got off to a rough start on his day with four over-par scores in his first four holes and was eight over par through 10 holes; however, he came back with a par, two consecutive birdies and ended his first round with five straight pars for a six-over 77. In his second round – which has three holes remaining – he has a birdie and seven pars, and is six strokes over par.
The final Redbird in the field is freshman Pietro Pontiggia who carded an 85 over the opening 18 holes, and is seven over par with three holes remaining in the second round.
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