WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – With a one-over opening round of 285, the Illinois State Redbirds are just six shots off the lead in a tightly contested opening day of the Boilermaker Invitational.
Of the schools that ISU trails include two nationally ranked squads, including three Big Ten schools and a Big 12 school. The 'Birds trail only Rutgers (279), 11th-ranked Oklahoma (280), Kent State (280), Wisconsin (280), and 38th ranked and tournament host Purdue (281). Filling in behind the Redbirds are Eastern Michigan (286), Loyola Chicago (295), Western Kentucky (296), Butler (297), Ball State (297), Southern Illinois (301), and IUPUI (308).
Originally scheduled to start with 36 holes on Saturday and the final 18 holes on Sunday, the tournament playing dates were adjusted to a practice round and 18 holes on Friday and then 36 holes on Saturday due to impending inclement weather on Sunday.
Illinois State is one of just three schools in the field – and are joined by the two nationally-ranked schools – to have all five of the scoring golfers sitting at +2 or better over the first 18 holes.
Leading the way for ISU on the opening day was Parker Wisdom and Alex McCulla who each carded a one-under 70 on the par-71 Ackerman-Allen Golf Course. The pair are tied for 13th overall in the individual field with two rounds to play.
Wisdom, who started the round on the sixth hole, opened his day with eight consecutive pars before he saw his clean scorecard come to an end with a bogey on his ninth hole, which he followed with a birdie on his 10th hole of the day to put him back at even par. His remaining eight holes had a birdie – on the par-five second hole. His final three holes were three pars as he ended the day with a season best, and career-low-tying round of 70.
McCulla, who began his day on the par-three fifth hole, opened with a par and a bogey. After a second par on his third hole of the day McCulla alternated birdies and pars for his next six holes, as the trio of birdies dropped his aggregate score to two strokes under par at the turn. His back nine saw eight pars and a bogey, as he claimed his 10th under-par round of the season with a 70.
Felix van Dijk had a rocky start to his day, as he started on the par-five sixth hole and over his first nine holes he had two birdies, three pars and four over-par scores to push his score to three over par at the turn on the round. For as rocky as his start was, his finish on the round was steady, as he had three birdies over a seven-hole stretch to open his back nine – including back-to-back birdies on the second and third hole – to drop back to even par before a bogey on the fourth hole proved to be his only blemish over his back nine, carding a one-over 72. van Dijk is 25th in the individual standings after the opening round.
Valentin Peugnet and Pietro Pontiggia each finished their rounds at two strokes over par, as each of the Redbird golfers in the tournament are at or inside of the top-30 individually in the 74-golfer field. Peugnet had three birdies, 10 pars, and five bogeys for his 73, while Pontiggia had three birdies, 11 pars, and four over-par scores and are tied for 30th.
The final two rounds will see the Redbirds play alongside Purdue and Kent State through the final two rounds of the tournament.
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