Baylor MGOLF in 14th Place on Day One of the Fighting Illini Invitational

[Roberts, Matt]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS- Sept. 20, 2024

Baylor MGOLF in 14th Place on Day One of the Fighting Illini Invitational
BU’s Appel leads BU with an even-par 70
For more information, contact Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

OLYMPIA Fields, Ill. – Baylor men’s golf closed day one in 14th place at the Fighting Illini Invitational on Friday.

Jonas Appel led the lineup in scoring for the second time in his career with an even-par 70 to pull into a tie for 22nd. Arizona State’s Jose Luis Ballester and Georgia Tech’s Benjamin Reuter share the overnight lead after shooting 6-under 64s Friday.

Baylor’s 15-over 295 is five shots ahead of 15th-place Michigan and within 11 shots of 10th-place Oklahoma State. Arizona State spends Friday night with a six-shot lead on the heels of a 7-under 273.

THE RUNDOWN
Appel got off to a steady start with eight straight pars on his outward half before carding a bogey at No. 18 to make the turn at 1-over. He immediately atoned for the dropped shot with a birdie at No. 1 and added another at No. 5 to get into red figures. The junior added one more bogey to his card at No. 6 and finished the day at even par.

Zach Heffernan finished Friday in a tie for 53rd after a 4-over 74. The Boerne, Texas, native started strong with a birdie at No. 11 but stumbled down the stretch with bogeys at Nos. 12 and 16, a triple-bogey at No. 14 and a double-bogey at No. 18. The senior improved by eight shots on his second nine, which was highlighted by back-to-back birdies at Nos. 2 and 3.

Vincent Stjernfeldt made his Baylor debut in the lineup and tied for 53rd on Friday. The freshman played his first six holes at even par with a birdie at No. 12 and a bogey at No. 13. Three-straight bogeys to close out his opening nine dropped him to 3-over at the turn. Two more bogeys at Nos. 2 and 6 dropped him to 5-over before a second bounce-back birdie got him back to 4-over.

Davis Ovard opened the Fighting Illini with a 7-over 77 on Friday to tie for 72nd. The sophomore opened his event with bogeys at Nos. 10, 12 and 16, followed by a triple-bogey at No. 18 to close his front nine with a 6-over 41. He settled in on his second nine, with his only blemish coming with a bogey at No. 8, improving by six shots on his second nine.

Drew Wrightson finished the day a shot back of Ovard with an 8-over 78 to tie for 74th. He made four bogeys on his front side at Nos. 10, 12, 15 and 16 for a 4-over 39 on his outward nine. His second nine included back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 1 and 2, then again at Nos. 7 and 8 to finish out the afternoon.



HIGHLIGHTS

  *   After playing the back nine 20-over as a team, BU improved by 17 shots on its second nine, playing the front nine at 3-over.
  *   Jonas Appel’s even-par 70 was his best score since the final round of the Kapolei Invitational in October 2023 (67).
  *   Appel tied for the fourth-most pars on Friday

WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears will play alongside Florida and North Carolina, with Vincent Stjernfeldt leading things off at 9 a.m. CT. Full tee times, live scoring and stats can be found at Golfstat.com.<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=29254> For more information on Baylor Men’s Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on X, Instagram and Facebook.

—BaylorBears.com—




Matt Roberts | Director of Athletic Communications (MBB/MGOLF/ WGOLF)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-227-2280
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