MADISON, Wis - Traveling north to the Badger Invitational - an event that the Redbirds have won two of the past four seasons - Illinois State will look to add to its 2023 season in strong fashion against a strong field including three schools in Power Five conferences, and six schools that finished inside of the Golfstat Top-100 last season.
Event: 2023 Badger Invitational
When: Sunday, October 1 - Wednesday, October 3
Where: University Ridge Golf Course, Verona, Wis.
Par: 72
Yardage: 7,286
Live Scoring: Badger Invitational | Badger Individual
Participants (2023 Final Golfstat Ranking): Long Beach State (58), Marquette (61), MTSU (66), Wisconsin (71), Florida Gulf Coast (93), VCU (94), South Alabama (105), Illinois State (108), Nebraska (120), Northern Illinois (121), Ball State (122), Campbell (134), Western Carolina (152), Loyola of Chicago (188), Maryland (204), Central Arkansas (208), South Dakota State (213), and Eastern Michigan (216)
Redbird Lineup: Alex McCulla, Valentin Peugnet, TJ Barger, Parker Wisdom, and Felix van Dijk. Playing in the Individual Tournament: Will Troy, Pietro Pontiggia
Last Time Out: Behind a final-round 287 – ISU's lowest round of the three for the tournament – the Redbirds placed 15th overall at the 2023 Bearcat Invitational, as Will Troy carded a team-tournament-low 69 over the final 18 holes. The Redbirds had three different golfers – Valentin Peugnet, TJ Barger, Will Troy – have birdies over three consecutive holes, as ISU was a combined four strokes under par on the par-five eighth hole with four birdies and a par.
History at the Tournament: This season is the 10th straight that the Redbirds have competed in this event, as the 2020 fall event did not take place due to the pandemic. ISU has won two of the last four years at the event, taking first in both 2018 and 2021. ISU's second round score in 2021 - a 273 - remains a Badger Invitational Record and is tied for the single-round school record. The team's two-round 559 from that same season is the second-lowest 36-hole mark in tournament history. Individually, David Perkins' 65 from the 2018 tournament is tied for the second-lowest single-tournament score in the 13-year history of the event, while Andrew O'Brien's first two rounds during the 2021 tournament remain tied for seventh in tournament history.
2022 - 3rd / 18 (283 - 286 -- 569 (-7))
2021 - 1st / 14 (286 - 273 - 297 -- 856 (-8))
2019 - 4th / 16 (289 - 282 - 290 -- 861 (-3))
2018 - 1st / 12 (287 - 285 - 283 -- 855 (-9))
2017 - t-9th / 16 (293 - 294 - 289 -- 876 (+12))
2016 - t-4th / 13 (286 - 296 - 288 -- 870 (+6))
2015 - t-9th / 12 (295 - 312 - 305 -- 912 (+48))
2014 - t-9th / 13 (306 - 306 - 304 -- 916 (+52))
2013 - 3rd / 14 (287 - 300 - 296 -- 883 (+19))
About the Golf Course: The University Ridge Golf Course is a public golf course and the official home course to the University of Wisconsin men's and women's golf teams. Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed the course, which opened in 1991. University Ridge derives its name from the landscape features left by the last retreating glacier. The course sits on the terminal moraine, where the Wisconsin Glacier stopped, forming the backbone of the ridge that separates the land into groups of rolling hills and valleys. The natural ridge dictated course construction and the designers followed the contours of the land to create a natural setting that overlooks the City of Madison. With five sets of tees ranging from 5,005 to 7,289 yards, University Ridge offers something for players of every ability level. The wide-open front nine rolls through a preserved prairie and marshland, while the first six holes of the back nine are cut out of a dense Wisconsin woodland. The course opens up again at the 554-yard signature 16th hole, which features 3 fairways and 12 bunkers. The 18th is the perfect finishing hole as a climb of 182 feet between woodland and prairie is required to complete the 443-yard par 4.
