In position heading to Round 2 at Rich Harvest Farms

By Herb Page

Head Coach

I’m very happy with the way we played in round one. We had three guys who played exceptionally well and put together three great rounds.

It was raining pretty hard for the first three or four holes. But everybody had to play the course under those tough conditions. When it stopped raining, it was windy and cold the rest of the day.

Taylor Pendrith’s 70 was just spectacular. Out here you are going to make some bogeys. You expect that, but he just played textbook, birdying all of the par-5’s and making some great par-saving putts. He putted very well all day long. 

Really, Taylor lapped the field with the way he was hitting into the par-5’s. On 17, where other guys were laying up short of the water, he was hitting 6-iron into the green.

Josh Whalen’s round was very good, too, in his first NCAA Regional. On 17, he hit a 3-wood right into the teeth of the wind. He knocked to about 35 feet and then made a ender that was just fabulous. 

Those last holes, 15-through-18, are some of the hardest we play. But we played them pretty well. I think we played the par-5 17th like superstars with an eagle a birdie and three pars by our five guys.

I’m also very happy with the way Corey Conners played. He is very, very close. The only difference between his round and Taylor’s was that Taylor made a few more putts. He’ll be fine, though. He is hitting it very, very well. And let’s face it, this course is hard.

Photo by Scott Walstrom/NIU Media Services

Now we need to get five guys in the game. That would be big for us in the next two rounds. 

We go early today, first off at 8:15 a.m. The weather is going to be bad again – rain with a high of about 54. But when we go off early this morning it will be in the 30’s and it will stay that way for most of the front nine. When when we get to the back it should be in the 40’s with more rain. By the time it gets up into the 50’s, we’ll be off the course. 

If we can get five guys playing and get a little protection, we’ll be in very good position. There is not much separation in the leaderboard, so the heat is going to be on. We’ve played in so many of these, that it’s now all about jockeying for position. 

With the way we had been playing over the last couple of months, we are very happy with our position and how we played in round one. I’ll be very happy to be there with nine holes to go on Saturday.