Plymouth, Ind. - Trey Boecker was spectacular for the Illinois Central College men's golf team at the NJCAA National Preview, finishing as tourney runner-up (out of 96 golfers) and leading the Cougars to 6th place out of a very competitive 16-team field. Boecker, the All-American sophomore from Grant Park, finished at 7-under par for a score of 209.

The Preview was held in beautiful weather on Tuesday and Wednesday at Swan Lake, home of this past spring's National Tourney and site of the 2026 Nationals. 

"We were excited to have the opportunity to play three tournament rounds at a golf course where we hope to return to next May," head coach Sean Kennedy said. "Overall it was a solid effort for our inexperienced squad and we were encouraged with our play. We found a few things we need to get better at so will keep working." 

The first round on Tuesday morning saw ICC get off to a hot start with a 2-under par 286 effort, good for 3rd place. However, the team lost some momentum after an hour-long lunch break and shot 9-over par (297) to drop to 7th place on the leader-board. 

The tourney committee set the course significantly more difficult for the final round on Wednesday morning but the Cougars responded with a solid 8-over par for a final score of 296 and a 6th place finish.

The National Preview was stacked with tough teams, as eleven of the participating squads (16) had qualified for the NJCAA National Championship at the same venue. Of the Top 13 National finishers in 2025, nine of those were in Plymouth this past week. That list included ICC, who finished as Nationals' Runners-Up.

The Cougars hope to be back at Swan Lake in May of 2026 for Nationals, and Kennedy will continue to challenge the team with a competitive schedule.

"It doesn't get easier for us as there's a very strong field for next week's Cougar Classic at Metamora Fields," Kennedy said. "Six of the Top 13 finishers from the NJCAA Preview will be in Metamora so we'll have to keep raising our game. We'll take a couple of homework days and then get back at it this weekend to be ready on Monday."
         
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Trey Boecker      66 / 73 / 70    209  (7 under par); Tournament Runner Up
Connor Watson  74 / 71 / 76  221
Drake Kaufman   73 / 77 / 74  224
Logan Smith         73 / 76 / 80  229
Brooks Cluver      82 / 80 / 76  238
Andrew Kuykendall  79 / 82 /78 239

Results link: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/239686/scoring/team
    
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Monday & Tuesday, Sept. 8-9 at 9am
Cougar Fall Classic
Metamora Fields - Metamora, IL