URBANA, Ill. – Behind a two-under-par opening round from recent ISU graduate Alex McCulla, the Illinois State men's golf team ended the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Urbana Regional in eighth place with a 289, just four behind fifth place in the team standings.
Tournament host and 14th-ranked Illinois leads the field after the first round with a 277, while 23rd-ranked Texas Tech (279) is in second, and 35th-ranked UNLV is in third. The Redbirds' opening round 289 is also chasing Troy (283), #26 Long Beach State (285), #47 Marquette (285), and #2 Oklahoma State (286). Among the teams trailing ISU include Pacific (290), NC State (291), #10 North Carolina (292), #38 Houston (295), and Wright State (299).
The Redbirds will traverse the Atkins Golf Club course for the second round of the three-round event starting on the first hole at 8:55 a.m. tomorrow morning alongside Pacific and second-ranked Oklahoma State.
McCulla opened the way for ISU with a two-under 69, which is tied for the second-lowest NCAA Tournament round score in program history and is tied for sixth among the golfers in the field, while Max Faucquez' even-par 71 is tied for 19th. TJ Barger (73, t-33rd), Pietro Pontiggia (76, t-57th), and Will Troy (76, t-57th) round out the five golfers in the tournament for ISU.
ISU opened the day on the par-four 10th hole, and played the back nine of the course first, followed by the traditional front nine.
McCulla opened the day with five consecutive pars before back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th holes dropped him to -2 on the day. Birdies on the first and third holes pushed him to as low as -4 on the day, and he finished his day with four birdies and two bogeys to finish with a two-under 69.
Faucquez opened with five consecutive pars; however, he closed his front nine with two pars and two bogeys, making the turn at +2. His back nine started with a birdie on the par-five first hole, and after four more pars he had back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes, dropping him to one shot under par, before a bogey on his final hole of the day sent him to the clubhouse with an even-par 71 in his NCAA Regional debut.
Barger started his day with a birdie on the par-four 10th hole; however, had bogeys in four of his next six holes, and he made the turn at +3. His back nine started strong with an eagle on the par-five first hole, one of just seven eagles on the day on the course and finished the back nine one shot under par with another birdie, five pars, and two bogeys, ending his day with a two-over 73.
Troy had a tumultuous round that saw him card five birdies – which are tied for the fifth-most on the round by any golfer in the tournament – and added four pars with nine scores above par over the 18 holes.
Pontiggia had a pair of birdies – on the first and fifth holes – while also adding 10 pars during his round, also finishing with a five-over 76 over the first round of the tournament.
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