The McKendree University men's golf team closed out one of the program's best regular seasons in school's Division II history here Tuesday afternoon by taking home the team title by 21 shots at the Dan Salisbury Memorial Collegiate hosted by the University of Illinois-Springfield and held at Panther Creek Country Club.
After shooting a 1-under par 287 in Monday's opening round, the Bearcats were even better in Tuesday's final round as they shot a nine-under par 279 to finish the two-day, 36-hole event with a 10-under score of 566. The second round score of 279 was the team's second lowest round of the season and its 36-hole team score of 566 bettered the old 36-hole high of 584 by 18 shots.
The Bearcats, who are fourth in the most recent NCAA Division II Midwest Regional rankings, finished 21 shots in front of tournament runner-up, Davenport, who carded a 36-hole team total of 11-over par 587 after shooting rounds of 295 and 292. Wisconsin-Parkside shot a final score team score of 3-under par 285 to finish the event in a third place with a team score of 14-over par 590.
McKendree's tournament title was its fifth of the 2021-22 season as the Bearcats also took home team championships during the regular season at the Midwest Regional, the Bearcat Dual Gender, the Kentucky Wesleyan College Invitational and the Warrior Invitational. The first three of those tournament title came during the fall season, while the Warrior Invitational came in the team's first event of the spring.
Leading the way for the Bearcats was freshman Fabian Wennerlof (Onsala, Sweden/Katrinelundgymnasiet) as he took home medalist honors after carding a 9-under par 135 for 36 holes. Wennerlof, who won by three shots, recorded a 7-under par 65 in Tuesday's final round after carding a 2-under par 70 in Monday's first round. Wennerlof's medalist honor was his third of the season and the fifth overall for a Bearcat golfer as junior Phasin Vichitcharoenpaisarn (Bangkok, Thailand/The American School of Bangkok) earned two medalist honors on the season.
Wennerlof's final round 65 is the lowest round of the season by a Bearcat golfer and the third lowest overall round by a Division II golfer, but is tied for second lowest round relative to par on the season in Division II men's golf as North Georgia's Stephen Kinsel shot an 8-under 64 in the first round of the Tennessee River Rumble.
In addition to Wennerlof, graduate student Will Postlethwaite (Carlisle, United Kingdom/William Howard School) finished in second place at the event as he followed up his opening round of 4-under par 68 with a final round score of 2-under par 70 to finish with a 6-under par 138 for 36 holes to claim his runner-up finish. Postlethwaite's score is the second lowest 36-hole score of the season by a Bearcat as Wennerlof's 135 is the lowest.
The third finisher for the Bearcats was Vichitcharoenpaisarn as he recorded a 36-hole total of 3-over par 147 to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. Vichitcharoenpaisarn followed up his opening round 74 with a 1-over par 73 in the final round. It was his fourth Top 10 finish of the season.
Junior Rasmus Nilsson (Stockholm, Sweden/Danderyds Gymnasium) shot a final round of 1-over par 73 to finish the event with a 4-over par 148 for 36 holes to post a tie for 12th place finish. Nilsson opened the tournament with a 3-over par 75.
The fifth and final golfer for the Bearcats at the tournament was freshman Thomas Tollefsen (Tongsberg, Norway/Wang Toppidrett Tonsberg) as he shot rounds of 78 and 71 to finish in a tie for 17th place after shooting a 36-hole total of 149.
McKendree also had one golfer, senior Alex Gorman (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) playing as an individual at the event as Gorman followed up his opening round 78 with a final round score of 76 to finish in 30th place overall.
The Bearcats will now turn its attention to the postseason as they will play on April 15-17 at the 2022 Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Golf Championships, which will be held at Broadmoor Country Club in Indianapolis, Ind.
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