April 10, 2007

Results

By Matt Crouch
www.SIUSalukis.com

JONESBORO, Ark. - Playing in the final round of its final regular-season meet of the year, the Southern Illinois University men's golf team posted its best round of the Arkansas State University Indian Classic, but it was not enough as the Salukis finished 16th overall.

Hosted by Arkansas State University, the ASU Indian Classic was a 54-hole tournament that took place at Sage Meadows Golf Club in Jonesboro, Ark. The par-72 course played at 6,901 yards.

The University of South Florida came from behind to win the team title with a 12-under-par 852, beating out first-day leader University of New Orleans by two strokes. Five of the 16 teams in the tournament finished better than par.

Austin Peay's Erik Barnes carded his third-straight sub-par round on Tuesday to finish the tournament with a 10-under-par 206, good enough to win the individual title.

Four of the five Salukis carded rounds in the 70s in the final round with Andrew Gwinup and Blake Driskell posting the team's only rounds better than par in the two-day tournament.

Gwinup led the team overall, carding a 1-under-par 71 in the final round for a 5-over-par 221 tournament total, good enough to finish tied for 46th.

Driskell posted one of only four rounds on the 60s on Tuesday, coming in with a 3-under-par 69 for a tournament-total 12-over-par 228. The freshman from Cape Girardeau finished in a tie for 71st.

Coming in four strokes behind Driskell is senior Daniel Tomlin at 16-over-par 232. Tomlin carded an 8-over 80 in the final round, finishing in a tie for 80th.

Next in the Saluki lineup is Brandon Vagner with a 7-over-par 79. Vagner and Gwinup were the only Salukis to post three rounds in the 70s for SIU. He finished with a tournament-total 20-over-236 to come in a tie for 83rd.

Rounding out scoring for SIU is senior Mark Schmitz who finished in a tie for 88th with a 22-over-par 238. He posted a 5-over 77 in the final round.

As a team, SIU carded its best round of the tournament on Tuesday, coming in with an 8-over 296. The Salukis posted a 313 in the first round, followed by a 305 in the second for a tournament-total 50-over 914.

Southern Illinois will now take a week off before returning to action April 23-24 at the State Farm / Missouri Valley Conference Championship at the Kansas City Country Club in Kansas City, Mo.

JONESBORO, Ark. -- Final results from the ASU Indian Classic hosted by Arkansas State University at Sage Meadows Golf Club. Par: 72. Yardage: 6,901.

TEAM SCORING
1 - University of South Florida - 285-281-286--852 (-12)
2 - University of New Orleans - 286-278-290--854 (-10)
3 - University of Louisiana-Lafayette - 287-286-284--857 (-7)
4 - Troy University - 285-286-291--862 (-2)
5 - Louisiana Tech University - 284-290-290--864 (E)
6 - Missouri State University - 289-288-288--865 (+1)
T7 - Jacksonville State University - 286-286-294--866 (+2)
T7 - Illinois State University - 289-288-289--866 (+2)
9 - University of Southern Mississippi - 288-287-294--869 (+5)
10 - Austin Peay State University - 292-288-294--874 (+10)
11 - University of Central Arkansas - 305-287-285--877 (+13)
12 - Arkansas State University - 292-291-296--879 (+15)
13 - University of Northern Iowa - 294-298-288--880 (+16)
14 - University of Arkansas-Little Rock - 297-295-291--883 (+19)
15 - University of Louisiana-Monroe - 291-303-307--901 (+37)
16 - Southern Illinois University - 313-305-296--914 (+50)

INDIVIDUAL SCORING
T46 - Andrew Gwinup - 78-72-71--221 (+5)
T71 - Blake Driskell - 79-80-69--228 (+12)
T80 - Daniel Tomlin - 77-75-80--232 (+16)
T83 - Brandon Vagner - 79-78-79--236 (+20)
T88 - Mark Schmitz - 81-81-77--238 (+22)