WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Behind a four-under par 280 in the final round, the Illinois State men's golf team finished the Boilermaker Invitational eight under par with a three-round 844, the third-lowest team score in program history, tying for fourth overall in the strong field that included two nationally ranked schools and four schools from either the Big Ten or Big 12.
All five Redbird golfers shot under a 220 for the tournament, led by Felix van Dijk who tied for sixth overall with a three-round 207 (-6), while Alex McCulla tied for 17th with a 212. Parker Wisdom took 26th with a 215 while Pietro Pontiggia's 216 tied for 27th, and Valentin Peugnet's 217 finished tied for 30th. With its five golfers at the top 30 or better for the three rounds, the Redbirds are one of three schools in the tournament with all five tournament scorers at that mark.
Tournament host and 38th-ranked Purdue took home the team title, edging out 11th-ranked Oklahoma 822 to 823. Kent State finished third with an 836. Wisconsin finished tied with ISU with the 844 with Rutgers taking sixth with an 854. Ball State (868), Butler (869), Eastern Michigan (872), Western Kentucky (882), Southern Illinois (884), Loyola Chicago (889), and IUPUI (897) closed out the 13 schools in the field.
van Dijk opened his day with a career-low 66. He opened his day with a birdie on his first hole, and had a bogey-free round overall, twice recording birdies on back-to-back holes for the 12th-lowest individual round in school history. He came back with a two-under 69, giving him his 207, which is tied for the eighth-lowest single-round tournament score in ISU men's golf history. He had five birdies and 10 pars over his final 18 holes for his eighth round this season at or under par.
McCulla finished one over par through his first 18 holes, finishing the round with 15 pars, a birdie, and two bogeys. He closed his day strong with a one-under round of 70 which included three more birdies, along with a dozen pars, and his ending score of 212 puts him inside of the top-50 all-time tournament scores among ISU golfers, and the 10th-lowest by a sophomore in school history over three rounds.
For the second straight round, Wisdom tied his career-low with a second-round 70 (one under par) with four birdies, 11 pars and a trio of bogeys. Three of his four birdies came over his first four holes, as he started his day with a par and then birdied three straight holes and was never over par on the round. Wisdom's final-round saw him card 15 pars and three over-par scores, finishing with a four-over 75.
Freshman Pontiggia finished at even par to start the day, as he had a dozen pars, three birdies, and three bogeys to finish with the opening-round 71. His final round of 72 was one over par, as he had five birdies, eight pars and five over-par scores. His three-round 216 goes into the record books as it is tied for the 17th-lowest freshman tournament score in ISU history.
Peugnet had three birdies and nine pars for his day-opening round of 75. He closed the tournament with a two-under 69. He opened the day with a birdies and was never over par – he was at even par after just two holes, as he had a 14-hole stretch in which he had three birdies and 11 pars.
ISU returns to action on Sunday, April 23 at the 2023 MVC Championship hosted at Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley, Illinois.
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