Western Illinois Invitational

We have completed the first 2 rounds of the Beu/Mattato Western Illinois Invitational and are currently sitting in 4th place out of 13 teams.  We hit the ball well today, but lost a few shots in some spots where we should not have.  Neal McCarty did have an outstanding day for us shooting 70-67 and is in 2nd place individually.  He is -7 under for the tournament and is 4 shots out of the lead, which is Kyle Peterman of Western Illinois (63-70).  If we go out and play well tomorrow we can move up to second place, which is only 9 shots away.  We are also only 1 shot out of 3rd place.  Here are the day results:

Neal McCarty- 70-67 2nd
Clark Schmidt- 76-76 T-23
Tom Callahan-  75-79 T-30
Tony Ross     -  79-76 T-35
Nick Nuzzo   -  78-85 T-54

1 Western Illinois U.      277  286    563       -13 

2 Eastern Illinois U.      297  291    588       +12 

3 Wisconsin-Green Bay      296  300    596       +20 

4 SIU Edwardsville         299  298    597       +21 

5 North Dakota State       307  298    605       +29 
  Western Ill. Gold        297  308    605       +29 

7 St. Ambrose U.           301  309    610       +34 

8 St. Francis, U of IL     312  304    616       +40 

9 Bradley University       320  303    623       +47 

10 Truman State Univ.      308  324    632       +56 

11 Monmouth College-IL     313  321    634       +58 

12 IUPUI                   331  330    661       +85 

13 Chicago State U.        359  343    702      +126 

4-1 Vs. the OVC this week

Well, we came back from Jacksonville State with a 4-1 record against fellow OVC members this weekend.  Overall, I was pleased with the performance, but feel we could have placed a few spots higher.  Yesterday we did not have our best round, but the guys hung in the best they could and gave us some quality wins. Individually, Clark Schmidt had an outstanding tournament placing in 3rd place in his first collegiate event!  Nick Nuzzo also placed in the top twenty at 19th.  As we move forward with a short week of practice, we will need to work on our games to get ready for next weekends Western Illinois Invitational.  Hopefully the weather holds up for us and we can get a couple of sunny days in Macomb.

Final Results:
Clark Schmidt- 75-74= 149- T-3rd and led the field this weekend in birdies made
Nick Nuzzo- 74-80- 154- T-19
Neal McCarty- 74-81= 155
Alex Knoll- 80-79= 159
Tony Ross- 86-81= 167

Final Team Results:
Jacksonville State- 297-296= 593
Stetson University- 311-291= 602
Armstrong Atlantic- 309-303= 612
St. Johns University- 296-320= 616
SIU Edwardsville- 303- 314= 617
Morehead State- 316- 303- 619
Austin Peay State- 316-313= 629
Tennessee Tech- 322- 307= 629
UT- Martin- 319- 315= 634
Lewis University- 336-306= 642

Cold and Wet

Well, our day was shortened today due to cold and rainy conditions, but we played well.  We currently sit in third place behind St. Johns and host Jacksonville State.  I was proud of the way the guys hung in today with about 11 holes played in a pretty good rain.  Freshman Clark Schmidt rallied with 2 birdies on his last 3 holes to shoot 75.  Nick Nuzzo had four birdies to card a round of 74 and a share of 4th place along with teammate Neal McCarty, who also used 4 birdies to shoot 74.  Alex Knoll was our fourth score today shooting an 80.  Tomorrow we will be teeing off with the leaders and Neal will be head to head in his threesome with two guys ahead of him in the individual standings.  Here are the scores:

Neal McCarty- 38-36=74- T-4th
Nick Nuzzo- 38-36=74- T-4th
Clark Schmidt- 36-39=75- T-5th
Alex Knoll- 40-40=80- T-26
Tony Ross- 46-40=86- T- 48

Team Scores:
St. Johns- 296
Jacksonville State- 297
SIUE- 303
Armstrong Atlantic- 309
Stetson- 311
Austin Peay- 316
Morehead State- 316
UT- Martin- 319
Tennessee Tech- 322
Lewis University- 336

Coach Brown

Jacksonville State Grub-Mart Invitational

After some time off from competition we are back at it again this weekend when we leave for Gadsden, AL, to compete in fellow Ohio Valley Conference member, Jacksonville State's Invitational.  After looking at the weather it looks like we are leaving Edwardsville at just the right time to head back south.  We are playing Silver Lakes GC, which is part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.  We haven't received our pairings yet, but we do know that the confirmed field is SIUE, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech and UT-Martin out of the OVC.  Also in the field is St. John's University, Stetson, High Point, Armstrong Atlantic and Lewis University.

We are in the middle of a 45 hole qualifier this week to determine three spots as we have two players exempt for finishing in the top 25 of the last tournament.  Neal (T-8) and Tony (T-22) have earned their spot for the next tournament.

We are starting our long road trip this weekend as we will compete in tournaments for 5 straight weeks.  We will have to work hard in every event and pay special attention to our academics as we strive to have the best GPA in the department.  I will try and post this weekend during our tournament to let all of our followers know how we are playing.

Coach Brown

Final Samford Results

Well, we have returned home from Alabama to a beautiful day here in Edwardsville where the high today is going to be in the 70's. We showed a little rust in our first tournament out this spring, but had many positives to grow on. Neal McCarty posted his 3rd straight top ten finish of the year and racked up 16 birdies in his 54 holes. I was really pleased with Tony Ross as he competed in his first tournament for SIUE and showed that he has the potential to compete at a very high level. Here were the final numbers.

Samford Intercollegiate
Neal McCarty 72-73-73 218 T-8
Tony Ross 73-74-78 225 T-22
Alex Knoll 80-76-78 234 T-54
Nick Nuzzo 78-78-85 241 T-67
Tom Callahan 91-83-81 255 74

Here are a few pictures of the guys getting ready.  Limestone Springs was a beautiful place.

The season is off and running

Well, we are off and running in our first tournament of the spring season and while we are sitting in 11th place there were many positives to take out of the first round. Tony Ross, who is competing in his first tournament of the year, shot 73-74 in a very consistent day. Neal McCarty birdied 33% percent (12/36) of his holes yesterday, which is great to see in the first tournament. We also had a couple of guys really hold a round together that could have gone bad, but mentally held it together. I told the guys that we had a lot of positives to take out of this first day and that we needed to shake off a little rust. We have only been playing for about a week and a half. The majority of the teams here have played in 1 or 2 tournaments already this spring. Looking ahead to today's round we are only 7 shots out of the top 8 and I believe with a good round today that we can move up the leaderboard.

Individual Scores:
Neal McCarty- 72-73=145- T-11
Tony Ross- 73-74=147- T-18
Alex Knoll- 80-76- 156- T-52
Nick Nuzzo- 78-78= 156- T-52
Tom Callahan- 91-83-174= 75

Coach Brown

Spring Season is starting!

Well, we have been outside for a week and qualifying rounds for our first tournament has started. The guys are starting to get comfortable playing 18 holes again and playing pretty well. I have seen some really good swings although we are struggling to find our short game. We all know that the short game will come back as we are getting more time to practice now. After two rounds Neal McCarty is leading the way with rounds of 72-71.

We are leaving next Sunday to compete in our first tournament of the spring season at the Samford Intercollegiate. The forecast for Oneonta, Al, today shows that the temps are suppose to be in the 60's, but there is a chance of rain. Please continue to follow us here and I will do my best to give updates after each tournament round and throughout the spring season.

Teams confirmed for the Samford Intercollegiate are:
Samford, Vanderbilt, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Murray State, Southern Illinois-Carbondale, Eastern Kentucky, Evansville, Tenn-Martin, Belmont, Birmingham Southern, Houston Baptist, Montevello and SIUE.

Coach Brown