With teams battling cool, blustery conditions for the second straight day, Missouri State shot a final-round 307 Tuesday (Apr. 7) to move up a spot to ninth at the 2009 Branson Creek Invitational. The Bears recorded 321-307--628 for the tournament, which was shortened to 36 holes from the originally-scheduled 54 due to inclement weather.
Western Illinois captured the team title after firing 301-299--600, eight better than Arkansas-Little Rock (306-302--608) and 10 ahead of Illinois State (307-303--610). Oral Roberts finished fourth in the 12-team field at 616, with Stephen F. Austin and Nebraska tied for fifth at 623. Southern Illinois (624) was seventh, followed by Drake (625), the Bears (628), Creighton (635), Northern Iowa (638) and Bradley (652).
Brandon Crick of Nebraska took home medalist honors with 74-73--147, five over par on the par-71, 6929-yard Branson Creek course. Crick edged Kyle Peterman of Western Illinois and Dylan Raines of Arkansas-Little Rock, who each shot 148. Junior Ryan Weinhaus tied for 20th place to lead MSU, shooting 78-77--155. Sophomore Jack Courington rebounded with a 74 after an opening 82 to total 156 and tie for 24th with teammate Matt Cermak, also a sophomore, who tallied 80-76--156. Freshman Mark Hogan and junior Scott Glenn, both playing as individuals and not able to count in the team race, tied for 28th and 34th, respectively. Hogan carded 78-79--157 and Glenn 77-81--158. Freshman Jordan McLaurin went 81-80--161 to tie for 49th and junior Jay McBride shot 85-81--166.
Up next for Missouri State is the UMB Bank/Mizzou Intercollegiate in Columbia, Mo., next Monday and Tuesday (Apr. 13-14).
DAY ONE RECAP
The Bears were tied for 10th place after the first day, posting 321 in Monday's opening round of the weather-shortened tournament. Teams played 27 holes Monday with the final nine holes Tuesday.
Western Illinois fired a 301 to take a five-shot lead over Southern Illinois and Arkansas-Little Rock. Illinois State was fourth at 307, followed by Stephen F. Austin at 308, Creighton 315, Oral Roberts 316, Bradley 319, Drake 320, the Bears and Northern Iowa 321, and Nebraska 323.
WIU also stood 1-2 in the medalist race after the first round as Ryan Franks fired an even-par 71 and Jason Woll a 73 in cold and windy conditions. Glenn was low for the Bears with a 77, although he played as an individual and did not count toward the team total. Weinhaus was low for the MSU team with a 78, the same tally as Hogan, who also was playing as an individual. Next for the Bears was Cermak with 80, followed by McLaurin's 81, Courington's 82 and McBride's 85.
