Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Graeme McDowell Invitational
Men’s Golf places 16th at Graeme McDowell Invitational
09/24/2019 | 6:30:00 | Men's Golf
Birmingham, Ala. — The Southern Illinois men's golf program finished in 16th place at the Graeme McDowell Invitational on Tuesday at Greystone Golf and Country Club. North Florida claimed the title at 14-under par, ahead of tournament host UAB (-13) by one stroke.
"We have some growing up and maturing to do as a group and I hope we learned a valuable lesson this week in terms of competing and fighting for your team," head coach Justin Fetcho said. "While we don't want these types of events to happen, I do believe this will only help make us get stronger as we progress throughout the year."
SIU began the day in 18th place, but climbed two spots to 16th after firing a 298 (+10) in round three. The 19-team field featured six teams that competed at the 2019 NCAA Regionals and seven that ranked top-100 in the golfstat.com team rankings at the conclusion of last season.
The Salukis (+40) were led by senior Frankie Thomas (E), who tied for 17th place out of 100 golfers. With the performance, Thomas has finished even or better in consecutive tournaments for the second time in his career at SIU. Sophomore Matthis Besard stood at 40th to start round three, but carded a 71 (-1) to finish at a tie for 27th at 3-over par.
"I am proud of the way that both Frankie and Matthis played this week," Fetcho said. "They are our most experienced players and I think they showed the toughness and discipline this week that we try and instill in our players. Both should be able to take their good play from this week and use it as confidence for the rest of the fall season."
Southern will be back in action for its third tournament of the fall season, the Bearcat Invitational, from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
TEAM SCORES
1. North Florida 288-276-286 (850, -14)
2. UAB 284-281-286 (851, -13)
3. Arkansas State 286-287-281 (854, -10)
4. South Carolina 293-291-281 (865, +1)
5. Memphis 299-276-292 (867, +3)
T6. Troy 304-294-284 (882, +18)
T6. Louisiana 300-300-282 (882, +18)
8. Chattanooga 300-289-296 (885, +21)
9. Southern Miss. 298-291-299 (888, +24)
10. Western Kentucky 292-302-297 (892, +28)
11. ULM 293-297-303 (893, +29)
12. Lipscomb 295-297-304 (896, +32)
13. Samford 298-307-292 (897, +33)
14. Jacksonville St. 299-304-295 (898, +34)
15. Winthrop 297-304-300 (901, +37)
16. Southern Illinois 301-305-298 (904, +40)
T17. Wofford 301-299-306 (906, +42)
T17. High Point 302-300-304 (906, +42)
19. Nicholls State 304-307-304 (915, +51)
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
T17. Frankie Thomas 67-73-76 = 216 (E)
T27. Matthis Besard 74-74-71 = 219 (+3)
79. Sean Mullan 85-76-72 = 233 (+17)
T85. Birgir Magnusson 75-82-79 = 236 (+20)
99. Andrew Thornton 86-89-86 = 261 (+45)
Players Mentioned
