By: MacMurray College was no match for IC on Tuesday as the men’s golf team ran away with the Crosstown Cup for a 15.5-3.5 victory.
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois Colllege men's golf team won the Crosstown Cup over MacMurray College for the third year in a row, downing the Highlanders by a score of 15.5-3.5 on Tuesday at The Links of Jacksonville.
Illinois College jumped out to a 3-1 lead during alternate shot play on the front 9 in Tuesday's morning session.
Ethan Flinn and
AJ Jeffers were particularly sharp to start the day, winning their match against Corbin Tullis and Jacob Lee, 5 & 4. The freshmen pair of
Ryan Kaufmann and
Tyler Meng trailed early against Cody Curry and Noah Jeckel, but won four of the last five holes to end the match on the par-3 8th hole with a 3 & 1 victory. Illinois College's other victory came from
Ethan Beck and
Bryce Oden. A par on the second hole put the IC duo ahead against Caleb Burk and Keegan Potter. The pairs then matched each other shot for shot over the next six holes before Beck and Oden birdied the ninth hole to win, 2 Up.
The Blueboys then won seven out of eight best ball matches to take a commanding 10-2 lead. Illinois College won three matches and halved another on the back nine for 3.5 points, then did it again on the front nine. Just as with alternate shot, Jeffers and Flinn had the largest IC victory on the back nine with a 5 & 3 win against Tullis and Lee. The IC pair had pars on each of the first four holes to take a 4 Up lead, then ended the match two holes later. Pars on the 15th and 16th holes by Kaufmann and Meng put them ahead of Curry and Jeckel and helped them nab a 2 & 1 win.
JR Batson and Head Coach
Abby Vorreyer won three holes in a four-hole span to help push them past Jacob Farr and MacMurray coach Wade Mathis for a 2 & 1 win.
Kaufmann and Meng were the first pair to end their best ball match on the front nine. The freshmen never trailed, taking the lead in their match on the first hole and adding onto the lead on the fifth and the seventh. Batson and Vorreyer added a 2 & 1 win again on the front, and the new pair of Jeffers and Oden sneaked out a 1 Up win over MacMurray's Burk and Curry.
Seven singles matches ended the day, with Illinois College earning 5.5 points. Meng won the first five holes of his match with Lee and clinched his point for the Blueboys in an 8 & 7. Batson and Kauffman needed only one more hole to finish victories over Farr and Tullis, winning 7 & 6.
The remaining three matches were closer, but the Blueboys closed the day with two victories and a halve. Jeffers closed out the front nine of his match with Burk strong, winning three out of four holes to take a 2 Up lead to the back nine. He then won the 10th, 11th and 12th holes to go 5 Up with six to play. After halving the 13th and losing the 14th, Jeffers closed out the match by matching Burk on the 15th hole for a 4 & 3 win. Oden went to the back nine all square with Curry, but won four holes on the back side for a 3 & 2 victory. The last half-point came from Flinn against Potter. 1 Down with two holes to play, Flinn leveled the match with a par on the 17th and both players bogeyed the 18th to split the point.
Illinois College returns to action by hosting the Blueboy Invite on April 20 and 21 at The Rail Golf Course in Springfield. Rounds get underway at 12 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday.
