Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's golf set for Big Blue Intercollegiate
04/15/2012 | 12:00:00 | Men's Golf
April 15, 2012
By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com
BIG BLUE INTERCOLLEGIATE INFORMATION
Dates: April 16-17 (Two rounds on April 16; one round on April 17)
Location: Old Hickory, Tenn.
Course Information: Hermitage Golf Course (Par 72, 6,773 yards)
Participating Schools (10): Tennessee State, Murray State, UT Martin, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech, Southern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Trevecca, IPFW, North Dakota
OLD HICKORY, Tenn. - The Southern Illinois men's golf team is set to participate in the fifth annual Tennessee State Big Blue Intercollegiate on April 16-17. The tournament will be the Salukis' final tuneup before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
"We're hoping to get back on track," head coach Leroy Newton said. "We didn't play to our potential in the last tournament, so we hope to use this as a positive stepping stone into the conference tournament."
The Salukis will play in the tournament for the first time in its five-year existence. The field is the smallest field of SIU's nine previous tournaments this year. All eight upperclassmen made the trip and will compete in the tournament.
Last Time Out
The Salukis golfed without Brandon Cauldwell for two rounds and finished 19th at the Arkansas State Red Wolf Intercollegiate. Jake Erickson and Joe Goelzhauser led the team, both posting a three-round score of 221 (+8).
Next Up
The Salukis head to the conference tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. Southern finished eighth in 2011 after posting seven consecutive years of top-four finishes in the tournament. Last year, Brandon Cauldwell was the top finisher for SIU. His three-round 231 placed him 11th in the conference. The Salukis are currently ranked fourth in the conference and are one of only three conference teams to win a tournament this year.
Record Watch
Brandon Cauldwell is currently fifth in school history with a career scoring average of 75.1. Joe Goelzhauser (75.7, 10th) and Jake Erickson (76.1, 14th) are also among the top-15 scoring averages in school history.
Erickson leads SIU in scoring average in 2011-12 with a 74.00, which would be the sixth best single-season average in school history.
Erickson has played 82 career rounds for SIU, placing him sixth in school history. If he plays all six remaining rounds in 2012, Erickson will move into a tie with Andrew Gwinup (2003-07) for fourth in school history with 88 career rounds.
Erickson became the second golfer in school history to win two tournaments in a season. He won the Skyhawk Fall Classic in October and the Grover Page Classic in March. Erickson has led the team in five of the previous six tournaments this year.
In the first tournament of the year, the Wasioto Winds Fall Kick-Off Classic, Brandon Cauldwell shot a 66, the third-lowest opening round score in school history. In the second round, Erickson hot a 67, good for the sixth-best second-round score in school history. For the whole tournament, Jeffrey Miller shot a 212 (-4), tying the 11th best three-round score in school history.
The trio helped SIU to the eighth-best three-round team score in school history (863). The first-round team score (281) tied for the second-best opening-round score in school history and tied for the fifth-best single-round team score in school history.
Four Salukis have posted a combined eight rounds in the 60s this year; last year, the entire team combined for just three rounds below 70.
Brandon Cauldwell and Jeffrey Miller both have two rounds in the 60s this year, placing them with 13 other SIU golfers with multiple sub-70 rounds in a career. Cauldwell and Jake Erickson each have three career sub-70 rounds, placing them eighth in school history.
