Beu Mussatto Invitational at WIU April 2-3, 2012
Round 3: April 3, 2012
Knox College improved its scores in every round and wound up placing 14th in the tournament, which featured schools from across the Midwest.
The Prairie Fire got better as the tourney unfolded. The team shaved eight strokes off its second round score (326) compared to the first round (334). That trend continued on Tuesday as Knox was five strokes better in the third round (321) than round two.
The Fire finished with a team score of 981. Indian Hills Community College shot a tournament low round of 279 on the final day to win the team title with an overall score of 873 (+9).
One stroke separated the second through fourth place teams. The Western Illinois University Purple squad (891), which entered the day in third place, finished a distant second, 18 strokes off the pace. South Dakota State University (892) was third, North Dakota State (893) - which trailed trailed Indian Hills by only four strokes after the second round – dropped from second to fourth place. The University of Nebraska at Omaha (909) had its worst round of the day with a 308 rounded out the top five with a fifth place finish.
Prairie Fire senior Bobby Stuebi (Western Springs, IL, Lyons Township), like the team, improved with each round. He followed up his first and second round scores of 81 and 77 with a 76 in the final round for a 234. Stuebi moved up three places on the individual leaderboard, beginning the day in a tie for 45th place and finishing in a tie for 42nd to lead Knox.
Sophomore James Fenner (East Peoria, IL, Metamora) carded an 80 on the final day for a three round tally of 238, tying him for 57th place individually. Senior Jamie Jang (San Carlos, CA, Carlmont High School) shot an 83 in round three for a 245. Senior Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia, Woodstock) had the best round of his Knox golfing career, firing an 82 (264 total), while first-year golfer Ben Schlotter (Chambersburg, PA, Cumberland Valley Christian) saw a two stroke improvement in the third round with his 102 (313 total).
A golfer from Indiana University led pack after the second round, but it was another golfer from IU instead that will take home the first place hardware.
Nicholas Grubnich began play on Tuesday at -3 (71-70-141). Andrew Godfrey of the WIU Purple team wasn’t far behind after firing a -1 (70-73-143). Dillon Schultz of South Dakota State (E) and three other golfers, including Grubnich’s teammate at Indiana, Michael McGee, were all within striking distance at +1.
McGee saved his best for last. He fired a 5-under par 67 to finish at -4 (212) and win the first place medal. Godfrey’s 2-under 70 and Indian Hill’s Kevin Workman’s 4-under 68 tied them for second. Grubnich dropped to fourth place after carding a 75 and finishing four shots back.
The third round was really good for many golfers. Fifteen shot under par, including a pair of 67s (McGee and Ben Gillen of St. Ambrose University), and three shot even par (72). Seven golfers had scores under par and one shot even par in the second round. The first round was the toughest with only two scores under par and two golfers finishing even.
The Prairie Fire is back in action on Friday and Saturday, April 6 and 7, at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational. The tournament will be played at Ironwood Golf Course in Normal.
Complete information about the tournament can be found online at:
http://www.goleathernecks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12000&ATCLID=205359915
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Rounds 1 and 2: April 2, 2012
The Prairie Fire is facing tough competition, including many NCAA Division I schools, in the tournament that’s being played at Harry Mussatto Golf Course in Macomb.
Knox carded a first round score of 334, then shaved eight strokes off of that total in the second round for a 36 hole score of 660 on Monday. That places the Prairie Fire in 14th place out of 15 teams going into Tuesday’s third and final round.
Senior Bobby Stuebi (Western Springs, IL, Lyons Township) and sophomore James Fenner (East Peoria, IL, Metamora) shot much better in the second round after Stuebi fired an 81 and Fenner an 82 in round one. Fenner finished the second round with a 76 (+4) and Stuebi a 77 (+5) to end the day at 158, tied for 45th place out of 87 golfers in the field.
Senior Jamie Jang (San Carlos, CA, Carlmont High School) trails Stuebi and Fenner by four strokes at 182 after he turned in scores of 80 in the first round and 82 in the second.
Indian Hills Community College sits atop the team leaderboard going into the third round. IHCC leapfrogged one of Western Illinois University’s two teams in the tournament, which led after the first round, by shooting a 292 in round two.
Indian Hills (594) is up four strokes on second place North Dakota State (598). The WIU Purple team (600), which led the opening round, is tied for third place with South Dakota State University (600). The University of Nebraska at Omaha (601) is fifth, one stroke out of third and just three out of the runner-up spot.
Some of the other teams participating in the field are Monmouth College (651 – 13th place), the University of North Dakota (607 – 6th place), St. Francis University – IL (612 – 7th place), Bradley University (613 – 8th place), Valparaiso University (626 – 9th place), St. Ambrose University (630 – 10th place), and the University of South Dakota (637 – 11th place).
Nicholas Grubnich of Indiana University, who is one of a dozen golfers that entered the tournament without a team, is the individual leader. He begins play on Tuesday at -3 (71-70-141).
Andrew Godfrey of the WIU Purple team is two strokes back at -1 (70-73-143). South Dakota State’s Dillon Schultz shot even par 144 (74-70) after the first two rounds. Three other golfers, including Grubnich’s Indiana teammate, are still in the thick of things at +1 (145) going into the third round.
The Prairie Fire has two other golfers competing in the tournament. Senior Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia, Woodstock) shot 182 (91-91) and first-year player Ben Schlotter (Chambersburg, PA, Cumberland Valley Christian) (105-105) ended the day at 210.
