Farmington, MO - The Illinois Central College men's golf squad traveled four hours south to compete in the single day, 36-hole Mineral Aea Fall Invitational at Bogey Creek Golf Course on Monday. It was an all day affair as the Cougars teed off at 7:45 am and concluded at 6 pm following a Sudden Death playoff where they earned a 2nd place finish and an individual medalist runner-up effort from Carson Oliver (FR - Mt. Zion).

ICC posted a strong morning round, firing a 1-over par 289 to put themselves in a tie with Vincennes while John A. Logan lurked in 3rd place at two shots back at 291 (3-over par). As Vincennes faded, the Cougars and Logan traded punches all afternoon but ultimately, Logan rolled in a couple late putts as ICC finished with an afternoon 6-over par 294 to finish as Tournament Runner Ups.

"This was a solid effort and a terrific learning experience for our young squad," coach Sean Kennedy said. "We defeated all of our Region 24 challengers in the field and went toe to toe all afternoon with a very good John A. Logan squad. We were two shots down with six holes to play, but just didn't make enough putts down the stretch."

CARSON OLIVER BREAKS OUT
Oliver shot a 3-under par 69 in the morning round and followed that up with a 2-under par 70 to tie for Tournament Medalist and put him in a sudden death playoff hole. However, Rend Lake's Huey Towson eagled the first sudden death playoff hole to hand Oliver the tourney runner-up.

"Carson has been right on the edge of breaking out during our first three fall tournaments," Kennedy said. "Today, he kicked that door down and announced his Cougar arrival. Welcome to ICC Cougar Golf, Carson Oliver!"

WATSON CONTINUES IMPRESSIVE FALL
After three straight Tournament Runner-Up Individual Finishes, returning NJCAA All-American Connor Watson continued his steady play with another Top 5 finish.
 
"Connor really fought hard to bring in a score to help our team. He just couldn't get his putter started as he burned quite a few edges. But he stayed true to form, finishing 1-under for another Top 5 finish and really demonstrated fantastic sophomore leadership on how to be  a terrific teammate on a day when things didn't go his way. Some 4-year coach is going to be really fortunate to add Connor Watson to their fall 2027 roster."

KENNEDY PLEASED OVERALL
"I was very encouraged watching our squad compete," Kennedy said. "The three freshmen in the lineup (Wyatt Novotny (FR-Bureau Valley), Jacob Voss (FR-Fulton), and Carson Rowe (FR-Henry Senachwine) all posted solid rounds. Alex Kuykendall (SO - Charleston HS) fired a 3-over par (75 - 72 147) and earned himself a lineup spot in next week's tournament. Owen Anderson (FR- Rockford) shot a solid 75- 74 149 and continues to impress me. Our depth has led to some very competitive practices for line-up spots and that will continue to make us better." 

"We will spend this week volunteering at the IESA State Golf Championship at Metamora Fields, log a little extra short game practice while there, and get ready for next week's Duane Chanay Classic in the Quad Cities," Kennedy said.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Sept. 20 (8am) & Sept. 21 (9am)
Duane Chaney 54
Short Hills Country Club
Moline, IL