Sherrard, IL - The Illinois Central College men's golf team made the drive over to the Fyre Lake Golf Club on Thursday and Friday to partake in the Fyre Lake Invitational, hosted by Black Hawk College. A challenging course coupled with challenging conditions certainly made it quite the test, but the Cougars stood tall, out-dueling 14 other teams, three of which are four-year institutions.
Brock Taylor would have a career day, ending with his first collegiate medalist win. Taylor, playing as an individual and not in the Cougars' scoring lineup, would get off to a quality start on Thursday, getting three birdies, and two consecutively on the par-4 14th and par-4 15th. He would even improve on that on Friday, either getting par or better on 14 of the 18 holes, including a birdie on the par-3 16th.
DJ Norman was right on the doorstep, finishing the event all of one stroke behind Taylor for medalist honors. On Thursday, Norman would birdie the par-3 16th as part of his 76. Friday would be an improved score, with birdies on three holes, including the par-5 2nd, par-4 9th, and par-4 18th for a 73.
It was a crowded leaderboard at the top, with
Trey Boecker right behind Norman. Boecker's Thursday round carried plenty of positives, with a -2 on the back nine, with three birdies and even an eagle on the par-4 17th. Boecker would birdie the par-5 2nd for a 77 on the final round.
Hunter Ficken also found himself in the Top 10 by the end of the Invite, getting a total of six birdies, evenly split among his two rounds. Five of those would come on par-4 holes and Ficken would also birdie the par-5 10th on Thursday.
Peyton Woods birdied the par-5 2nd on Thursday, and would also par 22 other holes during the Invite, with a 74 on Thursday being his best round of the event.
Drake Kaufman would birdie twice, doing so on the par-4 13th and par-4 14th for a 78 and 79 for his scoring.
Quinn Cox had a three-birdie round on Thursday, and got off to a hot start on the back nine, getting a birdie on the par-5 10th and par-4 11th, before doing so on the par-3 16th as well for a 37 and 81 for the round as a whole. Cox also birdied the par-4 14th during his Friday round.
Brooks Cluver birdied twice on Thursday, getting those results on the par-3 8th and par-5 10th as part of an 82. On Friday, Cluver would have 'almost' bookend birdies, coming on the par-5 2nd and par-4 18th to get an identical score from Thursday of an 82.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Brock Taylor | 1st Place | +8 / 148
DJ Norman | 2nd Place | +9 / 149
Trey Boecker | 7th Place | +11 / 151
Hunter Ficken | 9th Place | +12 / 152
Peyton Woods | 16th Place | +16 / 156
Drake Kaufman | 18th Place | +17 / 157
Quinn Cox | 29th Place | +20 / 160
Brooks Cluver | 36th Place | +24 / 164
TEAM SCORING
1st Place | ICC COUGARS | +45 / 605
2nd Place | Augustana-Blue | +56 / 616
3rd Place | Augustana-White | +61 / 621
4th Place | Simpson | +61 / 621
5th Place | Illinois Valley | +71 / 631
6th Place | Black Hawk-Gold | +86 / 646
7th Place | Highland-Orange | +87 / 647
8th Place | Sauk Valley | +94 / 654
9th Place | Augustana-Gold | +102 / 662
10th Place | Black Hawk-Black | +104 / 664
11th Place | Rend Lake | +107 / 667
12th Place | Highland-Blue | +132 / 692
13th Place | Rock Valley | +134 / 694
14th Place | Fontbonne | +138 / 698
15th Place | Kishwaukee | +276 / 836
CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
NJCAA National Preview
Monday & Tuesday, September 30th & October 1st
at Swan Lake Resort - Plymouth, Indiana
1PM Start (Monday), 10AM Start (Tuesday)
