Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Peyton Wilhoit set to compete at NCAA Golf Regional in Norman, Oklahoma
05/13/2018 | 12:00:00 | Men's Golf
Southern Illinois men's golfer Peyton Wilhoit competes this week at the NCAA Men's Golf Regional in Norman, Oklahoma, where he is one of 75 golfers competing for spots in the NCAA Championships. Of the 14 teams, the top five will advance to nationals. The top individual competitor, who is not on one of the top-five teams, will also advance. Wilhoit, the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, is one of five individuals in the field.
"He's in a good frame of mind, excited and ready to compete," said SIU head coach Justin Fetcho, who will accompany Wilhoit on the course. "He was a freshman on our team that went to the NCAA Regionals two years ago, and he's a little different now, has grown up and matured, and will approach this postseason with a little different mindset."
The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days, Monday through Wednesday, at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club. The course is 7,100 yards, Par 72 with a challenging 77.9 course rating. Wilhoit will play a practice round on Sunday.
"I think from a visual standpoint it's similar to Dalhousie Golf Club, where we hosted the MVC Championships," Fetcho said. "It has tall grass on the sides and plays fairly long. With the dry weather, it should be firm and fast. There will be some winds to deal with and the greens are a little bit undulated, but the course looks like it sets up well for someone who knows how to control their ball really well."
The course characteristics should play to Wilhoit's strengths. The junior from Searcy, Arkansas has already won two individual tournament titles this season and has four top-5 finishes. He ended the regular season with a remarkable run of seven-straight top-15 tournament finishes and won the MVC Player of the Week award eight times.Â
"I can't think of a better guy to take to this tournament than Peyton," Fetcho said. "He's done a phenomenal job of putting the ball in the fairway, and controlling the ball and getting it into the green. The next step after that is making putts. If he's rolling his putter well, he has a great opportunity to win."
"He's in a good frame of mind, excited and ready to compete," said SIU head coach Justin Fetcho, who will accompany Wilhoit on the course. "He was a freshman on our team that went to the NCAA Regionals two years ago, and he's a little different now, has grown up and matured, and will approach this postseason with a little different mindset."
The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days, Monday through Wednesday, at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club. The course is 7,100 yards, Par 72 with a challenging 77.9 course rating. Wilhoit will play a practice round on Sunday.
"I think from a visual standpoint it's similar to Dalhousie Golf Club, where we hosted the MVC Championships," Fetcho said. "It has tall grass on the sides and plays fairly long. With the dry weather, it should be firm and fast. There will be some winds to deal with and the greens are a little bit undulated, but the course looks like it sets up well for someone who knows how to control their ball really well."
The course characteristics should play to Wilhoit's strengths. The junior from Searcy, Arkansas has already won two individual tournament titles this season and has four top-5 finishes. He ended the regular season with a remarkable run of seven-straight top-15 tournament finishes and won the MVC Player of the Week award eight times.Â
"I can't think of a better guy to take to this tournament than Peyton," Fetcho said. "He's done a phenomenal job of putting the ball in the fairway, and controlling the ball and getting it into the green. The next step after that is making putts. If he's rolling his putter well, he has a great opportunity to win."
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
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