Southern Illinois University
Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate
Men's Golf takes second place at Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate
03/17/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Golf
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
The Southern Illinois University men's golf team recorded the eighth-best 54-hole score in school history and finished in second place today at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate tournament hosted by Tennessee Tech. The Salukis led after two rounds, but Jacksonville State surged ahead in the final round to win the competition by nine strokes.
As a team, SIU was 3-under par for the tournament with an 863 three-round score. JSU got hot in today's final round with an 11-under par showing, lowering its team score to 12-under for the tournament.
"You can never hang your head about second place finishes, but being in the lead, we're a little disappointed not to take away the championship," said Saluki head coach Justin Fetcho. "Give Jacksonville State credit. They earned it, we didn't give it to them. To shoot 11 under today in these (windy) conditions is impressive."
The Salukis' top finisher at the 6,928-yard Sevierville Golf Club in Sevierville, Tenn. was Wade Thompson. He tied for seventh place out of 80 golfers at 3-under par. He had 15 birdies in the tournament and was the top scorer on Par 4 holes with a 3.83 average.
"For the entire three rounds, Wade just missed one fairway," Fetcho said. "He's always in play. Any time you finish in the top 10 in a quality field, you know he played pretty well."
Three other Saluki golfers finished in the top 25. Steven Souchek took 10th place at 2-under, while Drew Novara was even par for the tournament and tied for 15th. Brady Brown recorded his best-ever three-round tournament finish taking 24th place at 2-over par.
"Ten of our 15 rounds were par or better and that shows the depth of the team," Fetcho added. "That's exactly what we're trying to build. I don't know how many teams in the field can say that."
Southern Illinois
T7 Wade Thompson (4) 71 72 70 213
10 Steven Souchek (5) 70 71 73 214
T15 Drew Novara (3) 69 71 76 216
T24 Brady Brown (2) 72 72 74 218
T40 Andrew Mitchell (1) 72 74 76 222
Team Standings
1 Jacksonville State 283 292 277 852 -12
T2 Southern Illinois U. 282 286 293 861 -3
T2 Murray State 280 297 284 861 -3
4 West Georgia 282 287 297 866 +2
5 Tennessee Tech 292 287 288 867 +3
T6 Detroit 293 286 291 870 +6
T6 Eastern Kentucky 298 290 282 870 +6
8 UT - Martin 287 292 292 871 +7
9 Wright State 290 289 295 874 +10
10 Arkansas State 293 289 293 875 +11
11 Evansville 300 293 285 878 +14
12 Samford 294 293 293 880 +16
13 Carson-Newman 292 294 299 885 +21
15 Tennessee State U. 296 304 293 893 +29
Players Mentioned
