Tigers Give Up Late Lead To Place Third At Illinois Wesleyan
Wittenberg finished one stroke off the pace after leading by four strokes after Day 1 at the 26-team tournament.
NORMAL, Ill. – Wittenberg Men's Golf Head Coach Jeff Roope generally isn't one for moral victories. But after the Tigers surrendered a first round lead at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational to finish a painful one stroke off the pace, he will have to settle for just that.
Wittenberg led a strong 26-team field by four strokes after Friday's first round, but the scores on Day 2 were markedly higher for every team competing on the par-72, 7,016-yard Ironwood Golf Course. The Tigers struggled to a 319 in the second round after posting a 293 in Round 1, and they wound up with a two-day total of 612, one stroke off the pace set by host Illinois Wesleyan, the third-ranked team nationally, and Wheaton College.
Individually, the 15th-ranked Tigers were led by junior Ben Hogenkamp (Minster, Ohio/Minster) with a two-day total of 150 to place second. Hogenkamp was tied for first place after Day 1.
Sophomore Alex Andrews (Kirtland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) was next with a 154, good for 15th place. Next up was the junior tandem of David Wetterich (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) and Jack Uecker (Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) as each carded scores of 156 to place 24th. Rounding things out, sophomore Jared Wissinger (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) posted a strong 73 in the opening round before being disqualified on Saturday.