Tuesday, October 20
Southern Illinois University
vs
Arkansas-Little Rock
Men's Golf Places 13th at Little Rock Invitational
10/20/2020 | 3:15:00 | Men's Golf
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Southern Illinois University men's golf program took 13th out of 14 teams at the Little Rock Invitational on Tuesday at the Chenal Country Club. The University of Little Rock at Arkansas, the host of this tournament, stormed back after entering the day down six strokes to win the tournament at 35-under par (829).
"Obviously, we're disappointed in the result," said coach Eric Gilpen. "There's no question that we're a better team that what we've showed over the past two weeks."
The Salukis started the day in 13th and were unable to move up after they fired a final round of 300 (+12) to close out the tournament with a three-round total of 893 strokes (+29). Southern finished seven strokes behind Central Arkansas (886) and ahead of Missouri State by 10 (903).
Freshman Justin Wingerter led the Salukis in the individual standings, as he finished at a tie for 28th with a final total of 217 strokes (+1). Wingerter began the day tied for 13th, but faced some challenges in the final frame to fall in the standings.
"Justin played some really solid golf for us this week and we're proud of him and his progression since he's gotten on campus," said Gilpen. "He's really worked hard. He'll learn a lot from his experience in the final round today and hopefully he'll be a big player for us down the road."
Birgir Magnusson tied for 56th (+9) to take the second-best placing out of the six SIU golfers. Tom Cleaton tied for 59th (+10), falling just one stroke shy of tying Magnusson (226). Matthis Besard shot a team-best 72 in the third round to tie 64th (+11).
Southern currently does not have another tournament on its fall 2020 schedule.
"We have to get better over this offseason and we're only going to do that by getting uncomfortable," said Gilpen. "Clearly, tournament golf is a different animal for some in the moment. We'll put in the work to change that. This is part of improving and we have to learn from experiences like these."
OVERALL TEAM STANDINGS
1. University of Arkansas at Little Rock – (285-274-270) = 829 TOTAL | -35
2. Arkansas State – (272-281-293) = 846 TOTAL | -18
3. UT Arlington – (279-282-287) = 848 TOTAL |-16
4. ULM – (286-285-278) = 849 TOTAL | -15
5. Louisiana – (284-283-285) = 852 TOTAL | -12
6. Abilene Christian University – (276-288-289) = 853 TOTAL | -11
7. Southern Mississippi – (286-291-284) = 861 TOTAL | -3
T8. Texas State – (293-282-288) = 863 TOTAL | -1
T8. Lamar University – (288-282-293) = 863 TOTAL | -1
10. Louisiana Tech – (286-277-293) = 866 TOTAL | +2
11. South Alabama – (289-291-297) = 877 TOTAL | +13
12. Central Arkansas – (296-206-294) = 886 TOTAL | +22
13. Southern Illinois – (294-299-300) = 893 TOTAL | +29
14. Missouri State – (307-297-299) = 903 TOTAL | +39
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS INDIVIDUAL SCORES
T28. Justin Wingerter – (69-72-76) = 217 TOTAL | +1
T56. Birgir Magnusson – (74-76-75) = 225 TOTAL | +9
T58. Tom Cleaton – (74-75-77) = 226 TOTAL | +10
T64. Matthis Besard – (77-78-72) = 227 TOTAL | +11
78. Josh Mackin – (77-76-80) = 233 TOTAL | +17
T84. Markus Wilhelmsen – (78-84-78) = 240 TOTAL | +24
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"Obviously, we're disappointed in the result," said coach Eric Gilpen. "There's no question that we're a better team that what we've showed over the past two weeks."
The Salukis started the day in 13th and were unable to move up after they fired a final round of 300 (+12) to close out the tournament with a three-round total of 893 strokes (+29). Southern finished seven strokes behind Central Arkansas (886) and ahead of Missouri State by 10 (903).
Freshman Justin Wingerter led the Salukis in the individual standings, as he finished at a tie for 28th with a final total of 217 strokes (+1). Wingerter began the day tied for 13th, but faced some challenges in the final frame to fall in the standings.
"Justin played some really solid golf for us this week and we're proud of him and his progression since he's gotten on campus," said Gilpen. "He's really worked hard. He'll learn a lot from his experience in the final round today and hopefully he'll be a big player for us down the road."
Birgir Magnusson tied for 56th (+9) to take the second-best placing out of the six SIU golfers. Tom Cleaton tied for 59th (+10), falling just one stroke shy of tying Magnusson (226). Matthis Besard shot a team-best 72 in the third round to tie 64th (+11).
Southern currently does not have another tournament on its fall 2020 schedule.
"We have to get better over this offseason and we're only going to do that by getting uncomfortable," said Gilpen. "Clearly, tournament golf is a different animal for some in the moment. We'll put in the work to change that. This is part of improving and we have to learn from experiences like these."
OVERALL TEAM STANDINGS
1. University of Arkansas at Little Rock – (285-274-270) = 829 TOTAL | -35
2. Arkansas State – (272-281-293) = 846 TOTAL | -18
3. UT Arlington – (279-282-287) = 848 TOTAL |-16
4. ULM – (286-285-278) = 849 TOTAL | -15
5. Louisiana – (284-283-285) = 852 TOTAL | -12
6. Abilene Christian University – (276-288-289) = 853 TOTAL | -11
7. Southern Mississippi – (286-291-284) = 861 TOTAL | -3
T8. Texas State – (293-282-288) = 863 TOTAL | -1
T8. Lamar University – (288-282-293) = 863 TOTAL | -1
10. Louisiana Tech – (286-277-293) = 866 TOTAL | +2
11. South Alabama – (289-291-297) = 877 TOTAL | +13
12. Central Arkansas – (296-206-294) = 886 TOTAL | +22
13. Southern Illinois – (294-299-300) = 893 TOTAL | +29
14. Missouri State – (307-297-299) = 903 TOTAL | +39
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS INDIVIDUAL SCORES
T28. Justin Wingerter – (69-72-76) = 217 TOTAL | +1
T56. Birgir Magnusson – (74-76-75) = 225 TOTAL | +9
T58. Tom Cleaton – (74-75-77) = 226 TOTAL | +10
T64. Matthis Besard – (77-78-72) = 227 TOTAL | +11
78. Josh Mackin – (77-76-80) = 233 TOTAL | +17
T84. Markus Wilhelmsen – (78-84-78) = 240 TOTAL | +24
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
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