KETTERING, Ohio – With three golfers inside the top-20 with at least six holes to play, play was halted because of darkness after the field started late on the opening day of the 2026 Dayton Flyer Invitational, hosted at NCR Country Club.
As a team the Redbirds are +5 on the day and are within six strokes of a top-two finish. Butler is the opening day leader at -7 through 30 holes, while Ball State (-1), Ohio (+3), and Saint Thomas (+4) are also within striking distance of Illinois State. Miami (Ohio) (+9), Marshall (+10), tournament host Dayton (+15), Wright State (+18), Belmont (+19), DePaul (+22), Oakland (+24), and Cleveland State (+24) are all chasing the top of the leaderboard with roughly 24 holes to play in tomorrow's final day.
ISU started slow through the opening five holes and were in 11th place early in the day before the team responded by scoring low over the final 13 holes, including dominating the par-five sixth and par-five 10th holes. On the sixth hole the Redbirds had four birdies and an eagle, while on the 10th ISU had two eagles, two birdies, and a par.
Leading the way for the Redbirds is sophomore Gonzalo Cuellar, who is -1 with six holes to play in his second round and is tied for 13th overall. He opened his day with a one-under 70 in the first round, as he had two eagles, a birdie and a dozen pars. He is one of two players in the field with two eagles to this point in the tournament, while his 20 pars is tied for the 10th best with 23 holes to play.
Both Max Faucquez and Gabriele Bravin are tied for 19th, as the duo are each +1 on the day, each with a one-under 71 for the first round and are +2 in the second. Bravin had an eagle, two birdies, and a dozen pars in the first round, and has two birdies and six pars in his second round which has seven holes remaining. He has a scoring average of 4.20 on par-5's on the course, which is tied for the sixth-best in the field. Faucquez had five birdies and nine pars behind his opening-round 70 (-1) and started his second round with eight consecutive pars before closing his day with three bogeys and a birdie and has six holes remaining in his second round.
Reigning MVC Golfer of the Week Fernando Cobo Delgado is tied for 35th with six holes remaining. He opened his day with a three-over 74 in the first round that saw him with three birdies and nine pars, before coming back in the second round with two birdies and seven pars, and is +1 with his half-dozen holes to play. Sam Ottwell was ISU's fifth golfer during the first round with two birdies and eight pars for a 78 and is +4 with a birdie and six pars with six holes to play in his second round.
