MOBILE, Ala. – Trailing by eight strokes after the first two rounds, the Illinois State men's golf team rallied over the final 18 holes – as the 14 schools in the field opened the round on Monday and played the final section of the course after a weather delay on Tuesday morning.
Illinois State's three-round score of 847 is the tenth-lowest team score in program history, as this season's squad now has five of the 10 lowest 54-hole tournament scores and the lowest 36-hole tournament score in program history.
The Redbirds and Texas State Bobcats (843) battled back and forth, as the two schools were the only ones under par for the tournament and held a 13-stroke lead on the remainder of the field.
Behind Texas State and ISU was Oral Roberts (860), Loyola Maryland (863), Valparaiso (864), South Alabama (867), UCF (868), Georgia State (871), Western Kentucky (876), Eastern Michigan (877), Eastern Kentucky (878), Loyola Chicago (883), DePaul (886), and Dayton (891) rounded out the field in the tournament.
Illinois State returns to the course on Saturday, March 30 for a two-team duel with the Northern Iowa Panthers in Moline, Illinois.
Individually the Redbirds put five golfers inside of the top-25 of the field, led by TJ Barger who was the top finisher for the Redbirds, tying for fifth overall with a three-round 211 (-2). Felix van Dijk tied for 10th with an even-par 213, while Alex McCulla finished a shot behind with a one-over 214 to tie for 15th. Will Troy tied for 20th with a two-over 215, while Valentin Peugnet's four-round 217 (+4) tied for 24th. Playing as an individual, Parker Wisdom tied for 40th with a seven-over 220 for the tournament.
McCulla, a junior, was the team's low scorer in the third round, carding a two-under 69 over the final 18 holes. His opening to the round was spectacular with three birdies over the first three holes, and four birdies over the first five holes of the round and made the turn with a four-under 31 over the front nine. His back nine saw seven pars and two bogeys to finish out the two-under aggregate score.
Both Valentin Peugnet and TJ Barger each finished with a one-under score of 70 in the final round. Peugnet using five birdies, 10 pars and three over-par scores for his 70, while Barger – who tied for the tournament lead in par-three scoring – had three birdies, 13 pars, and a pair of bogeys in his final round.
van Dijk was the team's fourth scorer over the final round, finishing with a 73 for the round with a birdie, 14 pars – including carding a par over each of his last 11 holes – for the two-over final round. Will Troy had two birdies and a dozen pars for a three-over 74 to close the tournament. Wisdom's final round saw him make his turn on the round – which started on the 10th hole – at four strokes under par, and he closed his day with a two-under 69.
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