Forget Tiger Woods' title. SIU has won two MVC golfing titles in the eight days.
The Saluki men's team mimicked their golf mates on the ladies' squad (who won their own title a week ago) by putting things in high gear after the first 36 holes.
The weather was mostly great at beautiful Porto Cima Links, located near the aptly named Sunrise Beach, Mo. Indeed, the sun did rise last Tuesday on a pumped Saluki golf team -- and coach Justin Fetcho.
SIU trailed pre-tournament favorite Illinois State University by one stroke (ISU 577, SIU 578) after those first two rounds, but Fetcho looked into the eyes of his four-man squad and knew he didn't have anything to worry about.
"Everybody was ready to play this morning," Fetcho said. "I knew that they knew that this is the moment we played for all year."
And that moment was realized. The Dawgs blasted out of the gates with seven birdies in the front nine of last Tuesday's final play. And it just got better as the Dawgs buried the Redbirds.
The team shot a blazing back nine of 12 under par (par was 72 for 18 holes) and had 15 total team birdies for the match. This domination was not predicted. Nine MVC head coaches had picked ISU to win it all -- and for good reason given recent history.
Prior to last week's Saluki win, ISU had beaten the Dawgs in three straight tourneys this spring, by an average of 11 strokes. Also the Redbirds had just knocked off the no. 5 NCAA-rated golf team. So, conventional wisdom said that ISU should be the favorite. But we media types forgot to poll Fetcho on that conventional wisdom thingy.
"Even though they beat us three times, we knew we hadn't played our best golf yet," Fetcho said. "I couldn't be any prouder of the mental toughness we showed."
ISU wound up having the individual medalist for the two-day affair, but SIU had all four of their players in the top 10.
Senior Peyton Wilhoit finished third. Luke Gannon and Matthew Besard tied for fifth, and Hunter York finished in a tie for 10th. Ironically, Hunter shot the best round in the 54-hole tourney with a blazing 68 (-4).
Next up is the May 12 to 15 NCAA Golf Regionals. SIU will learn where they will play on the Golf Channel May 1. Fetcho is serious about the upcoming tourney.
"We're not going to the Regional for some sort of celebration," noted Fetcho. "We believe we can qualify for the National Tournament."
