Redbird men’s golf wraps up fall season with 12th place finish
Written by Noah Simon on October 29, 2024
Image Courtesy of Illinois State Athletics
NORMAL, Ill. – In the final tournament of the golf season for the Redbirds, the team finishes in 12th place in the 14-team field at the Leadership and Golf Collegiate Championship in Seaside, California.
With a team score of 908 (+44), the Redbirds finished ahead of UC Santa Barbara (909) and Cal. Baptist (912). Pacific moves up 3 spots on the final day to win the tournament with a score of 855. Behind them, BYU finishes in second place (860), followed by Sam Houston (865), Loyola Marymount (866), St. Mary’s (871), Santa Clara (871), San Francisco (875), Nevada (881), Seattle (883), UC Irvine (893), and Sacramento State (898).
Leading the way for the Redbirds was Graduate Student Will Troy, who finished his play with an even-par round of 72, starting off with a bride on hole number one before carding four bogeys over the next six holes. He ended his round with three birdies and eight bars to climb back to even par. His final round score helps him climb into a tie for 40th individually, with a tournament score of seven over par (223). He shot an opening round of 74, followed by a five-over par 77 on day two.
Senior Alex McCulla finishes the tournament in a tie for 56th with a final score of 228. McCalla began the tournament with an opening two-over-par 74 round, followed by a three-over-par 75. His final round of 79 (+7) saw him falling down 17 spots on the individual leaderboard.
Junior Francis Bautista began the tournament with back-to-back rounds of 76 (+4) before rounding out his play on Wednesday with a score of 78 (+6), dropping him down 6 spots to finish in a tie for 63rd with a score of 230 for the tournament.
Redshirt Junior TJ Barger opened play with a round of eight over par 80, followed by a six over par round two. His best round comes on the final day, with a one-over par 73 that helps him climb up into a tie for 69th. His tournament score sits at 231, one stroke behind teammate Francis Bautista.
One shot behind Barger is teammate Pietro Pontiggia with a 54-hole score of 232, good for 71st, followed by freshman Aiden Cudney, who finishes in a tie for 73rd with a tournament score of 233.
Pontiggia’s low round came on day two with a one-over par round of 73. Cudney shot back-to-back rounds of five-over par to begin the tournament and finished the play for the Redbirds with a seven-over par 79 on the final day of action.
Redbird Men’s Golf will return to action on February 17. The team will compete in the Border Olympics, hosted by the University of Houston in Laredo, Texas.
