It was a cold and rainy two day tournament in Galloway, New Jersey, this year's site of the Big Ten Men’s Golf Championship. Rain poured throughout the weekend and ended the tournament after just 36 holes on what would have been the final round of play April 30.
This did not stop the Hoosiers from giving it their all, as Indiana rallied from sixth place to finish 4th overall out of the field of 14 teams. Their two-round score of 586 (308-278; +18) was good enough to secure fourth place outright in the tournament.
Coming off of two straight 1st place finishes in the Tiger Collegiate Invitational and the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate, Illinois walked away with 1st again. Illinois was the only team to shoot below par for the tournament with a final score of 560 (292-268; -8). This was enough for a 1st place overall finish, beating out 2nd place team Northwestern by 17 strokes.
Indiana ended the first round of play on April 28 in the top half of the teams, finishing sixth overall with a total team score of 308 (+24). Despite the conditions, three Hoosiers still found themselves in the top 30 rankings for individual scores.
Fifth-year senior Mitch Davis posted the lowest score card for Indiana in the first round, shooting a strong 74 (+3) with a birdie on the first hole. His first round score was tied for ninth place in the individual rankings. Senior Noah Gillard also picked up a birdie in his first round, ending the day tied for 22nd individually with a score of 77 (+6).
During the second round of the tournament, Indiana began to turn things around. After only carding six birdies total in the rain-soaked first round, Indiana bounced back to card 19 birdies total in the second round.
Indiana’s improved round was highlighted with two Hoosiers shooting under 70 on the par 71 course. Fifth-year senior Thomas Hursey shot lights out in the second round, carding an impressive zero bogeys and five birdies, including four straight birdie conversions on holes No. 9 through No. 12.
His final score of 66 (-5) was the lowest recorded score for a Hoosier in the Big Ten Championship since Jeff Overton shot a 65 in 2005. Hursey ended the tournament tied for 13th place individually with a total score of 144 (78-66, +2).
Noah Gillard also shot a bogey-free round and joined Hursey to tie at 13th place individually. Gillard converted three straight birdies on No. 9 through No. 12 to bring his final two round score to 144 (78-66, +2).
Junior Drew Salyers improved from his first round score of 79 (+8) by shooting a 74 (+3) in the second round. He produced four birdies in his final round to end the tournament tied for 43rd place individually with a score of 153 (79-74, +11).
The inclement weather in New Jersey caused the tournament to end after two rounds, with Indiana’s final standing of 4th place outright in 36 holes. The Hoosiers’ finish is their best at the Big Ten Championship since they tied for 4th place in the 2013 conference tournament.
No. 3 Illinois (560; -8), No. 28 Northwestern (577; +9) and Wisconsin (583; +15) earned the top three spots in the team standings. The fate of Indiana is now at the hands of the NCAA Selection Committee, which will make its regional selections for the 2023 NCAA D1 Men’s Golf Championship on the Golf Channel at 1 p.m. on May 3rd. Selections will be posted shortly after on NCAA.com.
