The No. 21 ranked Indiana men’s golf team finished 10th out of 14 teams in the Windon Memorial Classic at the Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe, Illinois, this week.
The Hoosiers finished with a total team score of 4-over par 856, 22 strokes behind the champions, No. 14 University of Kansas.
Indiana found themselves tied for seventh with the University of North Florida after the first round with a team score of 2-under par 282. The mark was seven shots off the lead set by Marquette University.
The second 18 holes on Monday did not treat the team well. Indiana shot a 14-over par 298, which dropped them down to last place. The second round had to be completed early Tuesday morning due to the darkness of Monday night, when play was suspended. Indiana was 12-over par with a combined score of 580.
On Tuesday, Indiana shot its tournament best 276 to propel it to 10th place overall. That score was the third-best round of any team over the two-day tournament and Indiana’s best on the season.
Over the 54 holes, Indiana had three of the 22 total eagles at the event.
For the first time this season, sophomore Drew Salyers wasn’t the top Hoosier. Junior Noah Gillard and sophomore Clay Merchent tied for 16th at 2-under par.
Gillard was 3-over with a score of 145 after two rounds, which saw him in a tie for 34th. Gillard birdied six holes in the 36-hole span, including the second hole in both rounds. Gillard posted the lowest Hoosier score of the season in the final round, carding a 5-under 66.
The junior birdied seven of the final 12 holes, including three straight from holes 11-13. His 66 was the third-best round recorded by an Indiana golfer at the Windon Memorial, trailing only Brendan Doyle, who carded a 65 in 2017, and Jorge Campillo who stroked 63 in 2008.
Merchent started his tournament shooting a season low of 67 in the first 18 holes. He was 5-under on his back nine, which featured four birdies and an eagle at the 13th hole, the first one by a Hoosier this season.
Merchent struggled in the second round, posting a 5-over 76 with two birdies to finish in a tie for 34th after the first day. Merchent battled back on Tuesday, breaking 70 again, this time a 3-under 68 to finish inside of the top 20. The sophomore eagled hole No. 7 while adding four more birdies to cap off the tournament.
The biggest disappointment from Indiana this week came from reigning Big Ten Golfer of the Week sophomore Drew Salyers. Salyers failed to break par in all three rounds, finishing at 9-over after rounds of 73, 76 and 73 to finish at 222 and in a tie for 71st. Salyers birdied seven holes on Monday.
Senior Harry Reynolds competed as an individual, meaning his scores were exempt from the team’s total score. Reynolds finished with the same 5-over score as Senior Mitch Davis and tied for 47th.
Reynolds shot an even-par 71 in the first round and a 1-under score of 70 in the final round. In the second round he carded a 77, 6-over. Reynolds birdied six holes on Monday, including the ninth hole twice, and his round of 70 on Tuesday marked his best effort on the season, which was propelled by four birdies on the front nine.
Indiana begins the second half of their fall season in the Purdue Fall Invitational Oct. 11-12 at the Kampen Golf Course in West Lafayette, Indiana.
