Scottsboro, AL - The 8^th ranked Illinois Central College men's golf team won their first tournament of the spring season in comeback fashion as they rallied to win the Ron Marshall Spring Fling for the second consecutive year on Tuesday. The win was a special one for the Cougars, as the late Marshall was the former ICC golf coach and was instrumental in bringing the NJCAA GOlf National Championship to the Good Pond Colony Resort from 2005-15.

After taking an early Round 1 lead, the Cougars dropped down to 7th as they entered the final round on Tuesday afternoon down 8 strokes with just six holes to play when Drake Kaufman sparked the Cougar comeback with a skillful bunker shot for the 1^st of seven birdies for the team on the final 6 holes. Brooks Cluver converted a 10-foot birdie attempt on the final hole to finally give the Cougars some scoreboard daylight as the squad rallied from a 13-over par deficit with just 6 holes to play to a final score of 8-over par and a 3-shot victory to take the title.

Monday Morning Round 1 Recap
The Cougars jumped off the bus ready to play.  Freshman Connor Watson and sophomore Trey Boecker both jumped under par immediately. The Cougars went as low as 7-under par before settling for a blistering, opening round 4-under par team score of 284.  Boecker (4-under par 68) and Watson (3-under par 69) led the way as they headed into Monday's afternoon round with a 3-shot lead over Walters State.

Monday afternoon Round 2 Recap
ICC's steady play continued for most of the afternoon round.  Sophomore Logan Smith fired a 1-under par 71 while Boecker stayed steady with an even par 72 in the afternoon while Kaufman added a crisp 1-over par 73 to help the Cougars stay atop the Leaderboard. Walters State played well, trimming ICC's lead to a single shot heading to Round 3 and Jefferson State and John A Logan both fired under par 2^nd rounds to charge up the Leaderboard to set up a dramatic final round on Tuesday.

Tuesday Final Round 3 Recap
The wind picked up, causing the Cougars to struggle most of the day, making their slim overnight lead disappear after just two holes of play and allowing Walters State, Black Hawk, Snead State, Jefferson State, Highland, and Roane State to leapfrog the Cougars. In fact, ICC dropped 13 shots to par over the first 12 holes and fell to 7^th place, 8 shots behind the leader Walters State with 6 holes to play before Kaufmann's bunker started the birdie run and ignited the comeback. 

Boecker wins The Medalist
Individually, Boecker entered the first spring content as the #1 ranked player in the nation in the latest NJCAA Men's Golf rankings. He did not disappoint, firing rounds of 68 / 72 / 68 for an 8-under par 208 to win the Individual Medalist Champion.

Quotes from Coach Kennedy
"We really flexed some early season grit today, Not much was going our way, and we dug ourselves a pretty big hole against a very talented and deep tournament field (7 teams ranked in the Top 20 in the latest NJCAA rankings). It was incredibly encouraging to watch our mental toughness and find a way to scratch out a win today.  This was a total team effort as Brooks and Connor both just narrowly missed Top 10 finishes, Drake and Logan each posted low rounds, and freshmen Alex and Andrew Kuykendall both proved on a big stage they are ready to begin challenging lineup spots. I've run out of things to say about Trey. Quite simply, Trey was just Trey. It's really enjoyable having the #1 ranked player in the nation on the Cougar lineup card."

Results: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/12416727496840459559?back_link=true

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Thursday, March 12 at 8:00 am
Cardinal 36
Bogey Hills Golf Course
Farmington, MO