PLACIDA, Fla. – Behind a second-round 287, the Illinois State Redbirds closed the first day of the 2022 Coral Creek Club Invitational in 13th place in a loaded field that has five top-50 programs, and a dozen inside of the top-100 of the national rankings.
The Redbirds had rounds of 298 and 287 over the course of the day with a 36-hole 585, five strokes behind Cincinnati's 580 and six behind 18th-ranked Texas A&M's 579. Tournament host Florida Gulf Coast leads the field after the first day with a two-round 555, with 47th-ranked Liberty (566), South Alabama (567), 38th-ranked North Florida (571), and North Texas (573) rounding out the top five teams in the tournament. Memphis (574), UCF (574), #40 Kent State (577), Toledo (578), #27 South Florida (579), #18 Texas A&M (579) finished just ahead of the Redbirds, while Lipscomb (591), Jacksonville (591), and Kennesaw State (617) rounded out the 16 schools in the tournament.
"We need to learn some things from today if we want to compete in such a strong field," said Illinois State head men's golf coach Ray Kralis. "Each shot is so important when the field is this deep, and that magnifies the consequences of unforced errors. There were some positives across the board, and we can take some momentum from the second round and build on it tomorrow."
Senior Andrew O'Brien had rounds of 72 and 73 on the day, and his 145 has him tied for 30th individually, while Joe Hodgson is two shots behind with rounds of 75 and 72 for a 147, placing him in a tie for 45th. Valentin Peugnet (80-71) and Felix van Dijk (77-74) are tied for 67th after shooting matching 151's despite taking different routes to get to their scores, while freshman Alex McCulla closed out the Redbirds in the tournament with a two-round 153, tying him for 74th.
O'Brien was the team leader in the opening round and finished with a one-over par 72 over the opening 18 holes, a round which saw him record four birdies 11 pars and just three over-par holes, before closing out the day with a two-over 73. His final round saw a trio of birdies and 11 pars with four over-par scores for his total. Twice on the day – one in each of the rounds – he had birdies on back-to-back holes.
Hodgson started strong on the day, with two birdies and eight pars through his first 10 holes, before the winds kicked in late in the second round, as he closed his day with six over-par scores, one par and one birdie over his last eight holes, carding a four-over 75 through the first 18 holes. His up-and-down play continued through the first six holes of the second round, as he had just one par in the first half-dozen holes, while recording two birdies and three over-par holes. He calmed down over his final dozen holes with 11 pars and a birdie to close the round with a one-over 72.
While van Dijk and Peugnet each finished with 151's, van Dijk was consistent with rounds of 77 and 74, while Peugnet shot a team-high 80 in the opening round, and a team-low 71 in the second round. In his opening round, van Dijk had two birdies and 10 pars, finishing six strokes over par on the round, before closing the day with a trio of birdies and nine pars for his three-over 74.
Peugnet started strong in the first round and was at one stroke under par through the first five holes before stumbling with a birdie, four pars and eight over-par scores over his final 13 holes on the day, finishing with the nine-over-par 80. Starting on the back nine for round two, he had a troublesome start with two bogeys and a par over his first three holes; however, he bounced back with an eagle on the par-five 13th hole, and after a par birdied the 15th hole to drop him to a shot under par, where he stayed with 10 straight pars before a bogey on his 17th hole of the day sent him into the clubhouse with an even-par 71 over his second round.
McCulla opened his day with a round which saw a birdie, 13 pars and four bogeys, putting him inside of the team's scoring group through the first 18 holes with a 74. His second round started strong, with two pars and a birdie before he hit a sour patch in the course, and closed with two birdies, seven pars and six over-par scores, en route to his eight-over 79 to close the day.
The Redbirds tee off tomorrow's shotgun start round at 7:15 a.m. CT, along with Lipscomb, Jacksonville, and Kennesaw State, looking to climb up in the strong field.
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