Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate
Salukis finish 12th at Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate
02/21/2016 | 12:00:00 | Men's Golf
Tony McDaniel
SIUSalukis.com
PALM DESERT, Calif.--Southern Illinois shot a team score of 296 in the third and final round of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate to finish in a tie for 12th place.
Southern rallied in the final two rounds to finish in the middle of the pack of the 21-team field. SIU shot a 309 in the opening round but turned in back-to-back team scores of under 300 strokes.
"We could have hung our heads after that first round, but we battled back and came back with a good second round that put us in a position to move us up the leaderboard," coach Justin Fetcho said. "I was proud of the way that we battled through some adversity early."
Southern's play in the final two rounds helped the team climb six spots from the opening round to the final round. SIU tied UC Irvine for 12th and was just three strokes short of finishing inside the top-10. The Salukis finished 32 strokes behind Kansas, the tournament champions.
For the second-straight tournament it was Matt Greenfield who had the best individual performance. Greenfield finished six strokes over par to tie for 29th. Greenfield shot his first under-par round at SIU on Sunday when he finished one stroke under.
"Matt is starting to find his groove and get some confidence in himself," Fetcho said. "He was able to follow up a good showing in Arizona and come to California and do the same thing. There's no question he's hitting it better than he did in the fall."
An exceptional second round spurred Luke Gannon. He finished round two one stroke under par for his first under-par round as a Saluki. He finished the tournament in a tie for 45th. Charles Hawn and Drew Novara both tied for 66th. Brandon Carlson could have had a high finish for the Salukis, but faltered in the third round and finished 12 strokes over par. Carlson did eagle two holes however, which was the most eagles of any player in the tournament.
"This week was a total team effort. We had different guys step up at different times," Fetcho said. "Matt was our low guy, but I think we had some guys who stepped up and really helped spark us."
Kansas won the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate with a team score of 866. Colorado leapfrogged Texas Tech in the third round to finish in second place just behind the Jayhawks. Gonzaga's Sean Walsh was the tournament's individual champion. He shot a 209 to pace the field.
SIU now enters a lengthy break. The Salukis will not play again until March 14-15 when the team will travel to the UT Martin Grover Page Classic in Jackson, Tenn.
Final scores
T12 Southern Illinois 309 293 296 898
T26 Matt Greenfield (1) 76 75 71 222
T45 Luke Gannon (5) 78 71 76 225
T66 Drew Novara (3) 82 76 70 228
T71 Peyton Wilhoit (4) 76 74 79 229
T97 Brandon Carlson (2) 79 73 84 236
T66 Charles Hawn (Ind.) 77 75 76 228
Players Mentioned
