LAREDO, Texas – On Illinois State head coach Ray Kralis' birthday, the Redbird men's golf team gave him a day-long party on the golf course, as ISU carded an opening-day 553 (-23) on the first 36 holes of the Border Olympics. The team's second-round 273 is tied for the lowest single-round score in Redbird men's golf history, while Valentin Peugnet's second-round score of 64 is tied for the third-lowest individual round in program history.
Played on the par-72, 7,204 Laredo Country Club course, the Redbirds opened the day with a 280 (-8) opening round, before coming back for the second 18 holes with a 273 (-15). Leading the way for the Redbirds was Peugnet who used a second-round 64 to take an individual lead on the field with a 132, with 18 holes to play. Teammate Alex McCulla is two shot behind with a 134, in third place, 10 strokes under par. TJ Barger is tied for 23rd overall with a 143 (-1), with Felix van Dijk shooting an even-par 144 to tie for 30th, while Parker Wisdom's three-over 147 has him tied for 51st.
The strong opening day has the Redbirds leading the strong field of teams – four schools with rankings inside the top-100 of the NCAA – by seven strokes. ISU's 36-hole 554 raced the squad to the top of the leaderboard, ahead of North Texas (561), Lipscomb (563), Rice (565), Troy (566), ULM (568), Michigan (569), Sam Houston (560), Miami (572), Houston (573), Western Carolina (579), Wright State (580), New Mexico State (585), Lamar (585), Bowling Green (585), and Houston Christian (592) rounded out the 16 scoring teams in the field.
Starting his day on the 11th hole, Peugnet got off to a slow start on the day with a bogey on his opening hole; however, responded quickly with an eagle, two birdies and four pars over his next seven holes. After five pars and a bogey, he closed strong with birdies on two of his last four holes to close the round with a four-under 68. He used the late momentum from the first round and turned it into a crazy start to the second, as he birdied his first three holes of the second round and had birdies on five of his first eight holes to drop to -5 on the round. After six pars, he closed strong with three birdies over his last four holes to secure the career-low score for the senior.
McCulla started his day with an opening-round 66, as he carded the 17th-best single-round in program history over the first 18 holes. Also starting on the 11th hole, he opened his day with three birdies over his first six holes and was never over par on the day. He was four under par at the turn, and closed with four more birdies, three pars and two bogeys to finish with the 66, his third-lowest round of the season. Starting again on the 11th hole he opened with a birdie but followed with a bogey to drop him back to even par. He stayed even through the next four holes until he eagled the par-five 17th hole (his seventh of the round) and came back with a birdie two holes later. His final nine holes saw him card eight pars and a birdie for the second-round 68.
After an opening-round 74 (+2), in which he had two birdies, 12 pars and for bogeys, Barger came back strong in the second round with a three-under 69, including six birdies, three bogeys and nine pars.
van Dijk shot matching even-par 72's, opening with five birdies, four over-par scores and nine pars, and closing the day with five birdies, five bogeys, and eight pars. Wisdom shot rounds of 74 (+2) and 73 (+1) with five total birdies over the two rounds.
The squad returns to the course tomorrow morning for the third and final round at 8 a.m.
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