Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Sunday, April 16
West Lafayette, Ind.
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at
Boilermaker Inivtational
Freshman Sam Meek shoots 5-under par to help Men's Golf move up to ninth place at Boilermaker Invitational
04/16/2017 | 5:47:00 | Men's Golf
Behind a stellar round by freshman Sam Meek, the Southern Illinois men's golf team climbed three spots to finish in ninth place at 31-over par on Sunday at the conclusion of the Boilermaker Invitational, hosted by Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Salukis were 36-over par heading into today's final round, but Meek personally shaved five strokes off the team's score by shooting a career-low 67 — the second-best round in the field. He had nine birdies on the day and tied for 23rd place in the individual standings.Â
"This was a big-time tournament on a championship-level course against top competition, and to birdie half the holes is a phenomenal feat," said SIU head coach Justin Fetcho. "Sam will tell you he hasn't had the year he thought he'd have. Sam needed to see that he could perform at this level. This could be a big step forward."
Meek wasn't the only Saluki to shoot below par today, as Peyton Wilhoit carded a 70, posted five birdies and placed 30th overall.Â
After battling high winds during the first two rounds on Saturday, no team in the field was able to shoot under par after 54 holes. No. 11-ranked Kent State claimed the tournament title with a 1-over par score, edging out Purdue (+6) by five strokes. SIU will take pride in finishing ahead of two Big Ten teams — Michigan State and Michigan — which tied for 11th place.
"That's the mindset of our program," Fetcho said. "We didn't play the best round we could have in round two. It was pretty disappointing and our guys were down, but we put our best foot forward and didn't let what happened Saturday affect the way we performed today. It showed the toughness and ability to handle adversity. We took a big step in the right direction."
SIU's third round (283) score was the second-best team score of the day, besting even Kent State's 284, and stood in stark contrast to yesterday's 313.
"We had a tough stretch of holes on 17-18 and got some bogeys," said Fetcho. "What I'm most proud of is we bounced back, we turned the corner on the front nine and made a ton of birdies. It gets contagious with guys rolling putts in and fist bumping."
The Salukis will look to use the strong finish at the Purdue Invitational as a springboard into the MVC Championships on April 24-25, hosted by Illinois State in Lemont, Illinois.
TEAM SCORES
1 Kent State 285 296 284 865 +1
2 Purdue 294 293 283 870 +6
3 Northwestern 301 294 279 874 +10
4 UNLV 291 298 286 875 +11
5 Ohio State 301 301 283 885 +21
6 Wisconsin 293 302 293 888 +24
UCF 295 297 296 888 +24
8 Indiana 300 305 287 892 +28
9 Southern Illinois 299 313 283 895 +31
NIU 305 299 291 895 +31
11 Michigan State 302 303 303 908 +44
Michigan 303 314 291 908 +44
13 Miami (OH) 300 310 299 909 +45
14 Toledo 307 309 294 910 +46
15 Cincinnati 301 317 294 912 +48
SIU SCORES
T 23 Sam Meek 77 77 67 221 +5
T 30 Peytont Wilhoit 75 76 72 223 +7
T 42 Brandon Carlson 76 80 70 226 +10
T 42 Matt Greenfield 72 80 74 226 +10
T 70 Frankie Thomas 76 80 77 233 +17
The Salukis were 36-over par heading into today's final round, but Meek personally shaved five strokes off the team's score by shooting a career-low 67 — the second-best round in the field. He had nine birdies on the day and tied for 23rd place in the individual standings.Â
"This was a big-time tournament on a championship-level course against top competition, and to birdie half the holes is a phenomenal feat," said SIU head coach Justin Fetcho. "Sam will tell you he hasn't had the year he thought he'd have. Sam needed to see that he could perform at this level. This could be a big step forward."
Meek wasn't the only Saluki to shoot below par today, as Peyton Wilhoit carded a 70, posted five birdies and placed 30th overall.Â
After battling high winds during the first two rounds on Saturday, no team in the field was able to shoot under par after 54 holes. No. 11-ranked Kent State claimed the tournament title with a 1-over par score, edging out Purdue (+6) by five strokes. SIU will take pride in finishing ahead of two Big Ten teams — Michigan State and Michigan — which tied for 11th place.
"That's the mindset of our program," Fetcho said. "We didn't play the best round we could have in round two. It was pretty disappointing and our guys were down, but we put our best foot forward and didn't let what happened Saturday affect the way we performed today. It showed the toughness and ability to handle adversity. We took a big step in the right direction."
SIU's third round (283) score was the second-best team score of the day, besting even Kent State's 284, and stood in stark contrast to yesterday's 313.
"We had a tough stretch of holes on 17-18 and got some bogeys," said Fetcho. "What I'm most proud of is we bounced back, we turned the corner on the front nine and made a ton of birdies. It gets contagious with guys rolling putts in and fist bumping."
The Salukis will look to use the strong finish at the Purdue Invitational as a springboard into the MVC Championships on April 24-25, hosted by Illinois State in Lemont, Illinois.
TEAM SCORES
1 Kent State 285 296 284 865 +1
2 Purdue 294 293 283 870 +6
3 Northwestern 301 294 279 874 +10
4 UNLV 291 298 286 875 +11
5 Ohio State 301 301 283 885 +21
6 Wisconsin 293 302 293 888 +24
UCF 295 297 296 888 +24
8 Indiana 300 305 287 892 +28
9 Southern Illinois 299 313 283 895 +31
NIU 305 299 291 895 +31
11 Michigan State 302 303 303 908 +44
Michigan 303 314 291 908 +44
13 Miami (OH) 300 310 299 909 +45
14 Toledo 307 309 294 910 +46
15 Cincinnati 301 317 294 912 +48
SIU SCORES
T 23 Sam Meek 77 77 67 221 +5
T 30 Peytont Wilhoit 75 76 72 223 +7
T 42 Brandon Carlson 76 80 70 226 +10
T 42 Matt Greenfield 72 80 74 226 +10
T 70 Frankie Thomas 76 80 77 233 +17
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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