WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Illinois State senior Valentin Peugnet and junior Alex McCulla each carded strong rounds to open play at the NCAA West Lafayette Regional, as the pair each shot an opening-round score of 76 (+4) on the difficult Kampen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex and are tied for 48th overall with 36 holes remaining in the regional.
The pair are part of a Redbird contingent that has participated in six of the last seven NCAA Regionals, and the second time in that span that ISU has had two individuals competing.
Each of the Redbird golfers started on the front nine, and each had a positive score heading into the turn, as both golfers had six pars and three bogeys, making the turn at +3.
Over the back nine, Peugnet started strong with birdies on two of his first four holes – and pars on the other two – to drop his aggregate score to +1 on the day. He came back with three more pars before stumbling on the final two holes with a double-bogey on the par-three 17th and a bogey on the par-four 18th to go into the clubhouse with a four-over 76.
McCulla opened his back nine with a par, but followed by carding bogeys on the 11th and 14th holes to push his score to five shots over par. He answered immediately back with a birdie on the par-four 15th hole and ended his day with three consecutive pars to finish with the 76.
Nationally second-ranked Vanderbilt leads the way on the team side, finishing with an 11-under 277 over the first round, while Wisconsin individual Cameron Huss has the individual lead with a six-under 66 over the opening time around the course.
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