Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
State Farm MVC Championship
Men's golf finishes third at State Farm MVC Championship
04/28/2009 | 12:00:00 | Men's Golf
April 28, 2009
www.SIUSalukis.com
State Farm MVC Championship Final Results in PDF Format
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southern Illinois men's golf team shot a final-round 302 Tuesday to hold on to third place at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
The Salukis finished in the top three for the third time since 2006, and brought to a close one of the most successful seasons in the program's history.
"It was a great tournament that was played on a great golf course," said coach Leroy Newton. "It would've been even better to win, but we played well and separated ourselves from the fourth and fifth-place teams."
Southern Illinois finished behind Wichita State and Illinois State, but placed a comfortable 14 strokes ahead of Missouri State for third at the par-72, 7,242-yard layout at Dalhousie Country Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
"The year was very successful, and the team played as hard as they could," Newton said. "Sometimes though no matter how hard you prepare and play, you just get beat. We have a lot to be proud of though finishing third, and it was a great season."
Senior co-captain Todd Obergoenner, a Cape Girardeau, Mo. native, finished tied for fourth with a final-round 2-over-par 74, and 54-hole 225 to earn First Team All-MVC honors.
"We came in with high expectations and played okay for the most part, but it just didn't work out," Obergoenner said. "We kept fighting though and never gave up."
Obergoenner tied last year's mark of 225, but set a new career-best with his tie for fourth place.
"It (earning All-MVC) feels great, because it's what you work for all season," Obergoenner said. "I'm really happy I was able to do it in my last year."
Senior Phillip Collier finished ninth, improving on last year's tie for 13th at the conference championship. Collier carded a final-round 75 to go along with rounds of 74 and 78 for a three-day total of 227.
Junior Jordan Cox finished close behind with a 229 after a final-18 1-over 73 to tie for 11th. Although he finished outside of the top-six for an automatic All-MVC bid, Cox was chosen as one of the four at-large selections as First Team All-MVC for his season stroke average.
"It means a lot to be chosen all conference by the coaches after finishing outside the top six," Cox said. "It's an honor to be included as one of the top golfers in the league."
Rounding out SIU's scores were senior co-captain John Danielson who finished tied for 24th with a 236, and junior Blake Driskell who finisehd 45th with a 254.
Southern Illinois improved its team score every round and finished in the top four for the sixth-straight year.
For the eighth time in the last 11 years, Wichita State earned the team title and teammates Dustin Garza and Connor McHenry shared medalist honors in leading the Shockers to the title, as each fired a three-round even-par 216 to eclipse the field.
The Shockers outdistanced second-place Illinois State by 15 strokes, taking the team title with a three-round 295-296-291=882, while the Redbirds claimed the runner-up trophy with a three-round 897.
Following the Salukis' third place (915), Missouri State claimed fourth (929), narrowly edging Drake (931), Evansville (933), Bradley (936) and Northern Iowa (937). Creighton finished ninth with a three-round 952.
Despite poor weather in regions just surrounding the area, Tuesday's final round was played in good conditions, with a slight breeze, party cloudy skies, with temperatures approaching 70. Monday's 36-hole round was played with a strong wind with gusts that eclipsed 40 mph.
Players Mentioned
