by Kari Johnston, siusalukis.com
Southern Illinois tees off its season on Friday at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate in Zionsville, Indiana as part of a competitive 15-team field that includes five squads in the top 100 on golfstat.com.
The lineup includes top 50 programs Central Florida, Kentucky and North Carolina State. SIU begins the season ranked second in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Wolf Run Golf Club is a demanding, world-class course that was ranked No. 15 on Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses in 2007.
The top two returning players from the 2016 Wolf Run Intercollegiate are Brian Carlson from Purdue, who finished in third, and Ian Snyman from North Texas, who finished in fourth. Last year, Illinois won the tournament.
“Wolf Run will be a great test for us,” said SIU head coach Justin Fetcho. “The golf course is very challenging and will require us to control our emotions and cope with any adversity that pops up.”
The Salukis’ five-man squad will be returnees Sam Meek, Luke Gannon, Peyton Wilhoit and Frankie Thomas, plus newcomer Hunter York. York is a transfer from John A. Logan College and was ranked as the No. 11 juco Player to Watch in the country as of last fall.
“Practice and qualifying have been very competitive and the guys have been working very hard,” Fetcho said. “Everyone traveling this week has played some great golf over the last couple of weeks and they are chomping at the bit to compete against some of the best teams in the country.”
The first teams will tee off at 9 a.m. on Friday morning with the Salukis teeing off at 9:50 a.m. Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com.
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