Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Billiken Invitational
Men's Golf Wins Billiken Invitational
04/13/2004 | 12:00:00 | Men's Golf
April 13, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Brian Norman took medalist honors to lead the Southern Illinois University men's golf team to a first-place finish at the Billiken Invitational earlier today at Gateway National.
It was almost exactly this time a year ago, where SIU won the same event. Back-to-back champions of the 12-team tournament, the Salukis were also winners of the Billiken Invitational on Apr. 14-15, 2003.
A native of Henderson, Ky., Norman registered his second individual title and fourth top-three finish in eight tournaments this season. Shooting a 74-71-75-220, he beat Saint Louis' Evan Frederick by one stroke (71-77-73-221), as 68 golfers competed. In addition, his three rounds in the 70s added to a total of 18 on the year.
Kyle Hosick and Grant Goltz also placed among the top-10 individuals for the Dawgs. Hosick, who turned in a 78-73-71-222, tied for third, while Goltz finished ninth with a 73-74-78-225. Hosick has now finished among the top-six individuals in six of his last seven tournaments. Goltz, on the other hand, pushed his total of rounds in the 70s to 21 this season.
Dustin Stewart and Rob Laegeler rounded out the scoring for SIU. Stewart tied for 16th with a 77-75-76-228 and Laegeler tied for 23rd with a 80-72-79-231.
Despite shooting 10 strokes higher than its second round score, SIU managed to hang on and edge the host Billikens by two strokes. The Salukis shot a 302-290-300-892 to SLU's 295-297-302-894. DePaul (303-298-311-912), Wisconsin-Green Bay (305-308-300-913) and SE Missouri State (306-296-315-917) rounded out the top-five.
The Billiken Invitational title marked SIU's third team crown this season. The Salukis also won the Steve Harris Invitational (Sept. 8-9) and the Blue Demon Invitational (Sept. 29-30).
SIU concludes its season at the MVC Championship on Apr. 26-27 in Silvis, Ill.
