LAREDO, Texas – A hot start cooled, but the remnants of the spectacular beginning helped to launch the Illinois State Redbirds to a eighth-place finish after the first day of the 2022 Border Olympics, as a handful of teams were pulled off the course because of darkness.
ISU finished the two rounds with a 16-over 592, trailing 30th-ranked Baylor (563, -13), Coastal Carolina (+3), tournament host Houston (580, +4), Sam Houston (582, +6), Louisiana Tech (586, +12), ULM (588, +14), Michigan (+11), and Wright State (+14).
With 18 holes remaining, the Redbirds are tied with New Mexico State (+16) and lead Rice (594, +18), Bowling Green (603, +27), Western Carolina (604, +28), UTRGV (604, +13), Lamar (607, +32), Miami (Ohio) (+37), and Houston Christian (613, +37).
The Redbirds – starting on the 11th and 12th holes – opened their day shooting up the leaderboard and had a team score of -11 through the first nine holes of the day; however, the difficult front nine stretch of the course; however, was able to recover late in the first round, finishing with a six-over 294. The opening stretch propelled the Redbirds once again, as the team scored low on their first nine holes of the day, before holes 2-7 bit the team for a second straight round, as the team was able to finish just before darkness set in.
Felix van Dijk, at two over par through 36 holes, is tied for 23rd individually, while Parker Wisdom's four-over 148 has him tied for 32nd. Valentin Peugnet sits tied for 40th with a six-over 150, while Alex McCulla and Jack Paeglow are tied for 57th, each with a 152.
van Dijk had a steady start to his round with three birdies and six pars and was three strokes under par through his first 10 holes, and a birdie on his 18th hole sent him into the second round with an even-par 72 over the opening 18 holes. His back nine opened steady with 12 pars and three over-par scores over his opening 15 holes; however, he closed the day strong with birdies on two of his three final holes and closed the second round with a two-over 74.
Wisdom started strong with three birdies and six pars through his opening nine holes, sitting at three under par at the turn; however, hit the difficult portion of the course head-on and finished his round with four more pars and five over-par scores, finishing his first 18 holes with a four-over 76. His second round was up and down as he opened with a birdie and three pars over his first four holes. He sandwiched the team's only eagle on the day – on the 349-yard par-four 16th hole – with bogeys. Back-to-back birdies dropped him to three under par, as his final nine holes had a birdie four pars and four bogeys to finish the round at even par for the round.
Peugnet opened his day on the par-three 12th hole with a birdie and was never over par during the round. Is aggregate score dipped as low as two under through his first eight holes, as his opening round had five birdies and 10 pars, finishing wit ha one-under 71, his 10th round of 15 to that point at or under par during the 2022-23 season. He was even par through his first eight holes of the second round; however, he hit a rough patch with three pars and three over-par scores his second time through the course. His second round started well, and was at even par through his first eight holes with two birdies, two bogeys and four pars; however his final 10 holes he finished with five pars and ended with a seven-over 79.
McCulla was one of three different Redbirds to sit as low as three strokes under par in the first round, as he used four birdies, four pars and a bogey through his first nine holes to be at three strokes under par, before closing with five pars and four over-par scores, ending the round with a three-over 75. He started his second round strong with five pars and was one-under par through his first 10 holes, but a finish that saw a birdie, two pars and five over-par scores saw him card a five-over 77 in the afternoon finale.
Paeglow had a rough start to the day with three pars and three over-par scores and ended his first round with 14 pars and four over-par scores for a five-over 77. He bounced back in the second round and opened with three birdies, eight pars and a bogey through his first dozen holes, before he finished with two pars and four over-par scores to close with a three-over 75.
The Redbirds return to action for the third and final round of the yearly event on Tuesday.
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