GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Illinois State men's golf team opened play at its final southern tournament of the season and are 12th of 13 teams at the 2022 Craft Farms Intercollegiate, hosted by Eastern Michigan University.
"I'm a little stunned to be honest," said ISU head coach Ray Kralis. "We left Joe (Hodgson) stranded. With good weather conditions there are no excuses. I knew we would find some things out about ourselves at this tournament, but this was not what I was expecting. Now we get to find out a little more about ourselves tomorrow."
South Alabama leads the field after the opening 18 holes, carding an 11-under 277, while Oral Roberts (-2, 286), and Georgia State (E, 288) rounded out the top three. Tournament host Eastern Michigan and Southern Illinois were tied for fourth with a one over 289, while Rice (291), Lamar (292), Louisiana (293), Oakland (295), Eastern Kentucky (297), DePaul (301), Illinois State (304), and UConn (310) rounded out the 13 schools in the tournament.
The Redbirds return to the course tomorrow morning for the second of three days at the 2022 event.
Leading the way for the Redbirds was senior Joe Hodgson who shot an even-par 72 over the opening 18 holes of the three-day tournament, which has him tied for 14th in the field. He opened play strong, with back-to-back pars before carding the team's only eagle on the round on the par-five third hole. Never being over par at any point in the round, Hodgson closed his final 15 holes with two birdies, nine pars and four bogeys, closing the day with the 72.
Felix van Dijk closed his first round with a four-over 76, as he recovered from a bogey on his second hole to record back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes to drop his score to one under par. He stayed under par for a hole before a bogey on the seventh hole dropped him back to even par, which is where he stood through the turn. He opened his back nine with a par, bogey and birdie to stay at even par, but stumbled down the stretch with three pars, two bogeys and a double bogey over his final six holes of the day, finishing in a tie for 49th in the field.
Valentin Peugnet and Andrew O'Brien each carded a six-over 78 to finish as the third and fourth scorers for the Redbirds, tying for 62nd individually. Peugnet's round had three birdies and eight pars, while O'Brien had a birdie and a dozen pars.
Freshman Alex McCulla had the teams fifth and non-counting score, tying for 66th overall as he had two birdies and seven pars on his round. Playing as an individual, Parker Wisdom opened his day on the 10th hole, and opened with a birdie before following with a bogey and nine more pars to stay at even par through nine holes; however, he hit a rough patch at the end of the round with a birdie and six over-par scores, finishing with a nine-over 81, tied for 69th in the field.
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