VERONA, Wis. – Behind under-par rounds from Felix van Dijk and Valentin Peugnet, the Illinois State men's golf team held off a field full of power-conference chargers to take third at the 2022 Badger Invitational, as only nationally ranked Texas A&M and tournament host Wisconsin topped the Redbirds. Among the schools behind ISU in the field includes Nebraska, Purdue, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Marquette, Cincinnati, South Florida, and Maryland.
Texas A&M won the tournament title with a 20-under 556, while tournament host Wisconsin took second with a 567. Trailing Illinois State's two-round 569 includes Nebraska (571), Purdue (573), Ole Miss (574), South Carolina (574), Marquette (574), Cincinnati (574), South Florida (575), Campbell (575), Northern Illinois (576), Western Carolina (582), Augusta (584), UAB (592), Maryland (604), Western Kentucky (604), and South Dakota State (606).
van Dijk and Peugnet shot matching rounds of 69 and 70 for the two rounds, each tying for seventh place in the strong field. Parker Wisdom's one-over 73 second round pushed him to even par for the two rounds, tying him for 29th overall. Alex McCulla shot a 73 a day after his tournament-opening 74 to finish with a three-over 147, tying him for 46th, as Will Troy's pair of 77's saw him finish in a tie of 78th.
Peugnet has been at or under par in all five rounds he has played in during the 2022-23 season, including his two-under-par 70 from today's round. He started slow, making the turn at two strokes over par after two bogeys and seven pars over his opening nine holes. After a par to open his back nine he started on a frenetic six-hole stretch in which he was five under par, opening with an eagle on the par-five 11th hole. He then sandwiched a bogey between sets of back-to-back birdies to drop to three under par; however, a bogey on his final hole of the tournament sent him into the clubhouse with the two-under round.
van Dijk shot the same score as Peugnet, but arrived at it in a different fashion, as the senior was steady throughout the round, shooting matching 35's on both the front and back nine during the round. Both halves of the round his first non-par score was a bogey – the fourth and 11th holes – before closing with two birdies on each nine – sixth and ninth on the front, 12th and 14th holes on the back. For the year he has been at or under par in four if his five rounds.
Wisdom had a steady round, opening with seven consecutive pars before carding a bogey on the eighth hole. Over his final 10 holes he had 10 pars, giving him 26 for the tournament – third-most in the field for the one-over 73, ending the two-day event with an even-par 144.
McCulla was the team's fourth golfer and final scorer for the tournament, as he was between one under par and one over par after 17 of 18 holes during the day. He opened with a par and a birdie over his first two holes before closing his front nine with five pars and a pair of bogeys to make the turn at one stroke over par. On his back nine he pushed his aggregate score to two over par with a bogey on the 12th hole; however, two pars and two birdies on his next four holes dropped him back to even par before he went into the clubhouse one shot over par with a bogey on the final hole of the day.
Junior Will Troy rounded out the tournament for the Redbirds with his second consecutive 77 that included a dozen pars and a birdie.
The Redbirds return to action for the third time in the first three weekends of the season with a two-round tournament at Coldstream Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Bearcat Invitational starting on September 19.
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