Trojans Climb to Fourth Before Darkness Suspends Play at Hoosier Collegiate Invitational

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.  – Little Rock men's golf used a strong afternoon push to climb into fourth place before play was suspended because of darkness Saturday at the Hoosier Collegiate Invitational at The Pfau Course in Bloomington, Indiana.

The Trojans sit at 17-over par through parts of two rounds, behind only co-leaders Kansas and Purdue at 3-over, and No. 13 Illinois at 8-over. Wisconsin is fifth at 19-over, followed by Northwestern and Rutgers tied for sixth at 20-over. Ohio State is eighth at 26-over, while Maryland, Minnesota and host Indiana are tied for ninth at 30-over. Michigan is 12th at 31-over, Toledo 13th at 36-over, Northern Illinois 14th at 40-over and Ball State 15th at 47-over.

Round two was suspended because of darkness and will resume Sunday morning before the final round.

After battling rainy and windy conditions during the opening round, the Trojans took advantage of improved weather as the day progressed and made a significant move up the leaderboard.

"Tough morning round in rainy and windy conditions," head coach Austin Eoff said. "Towards the end of round one the rain completely stopped and the conditions improved for round two. We got off to a really hot start and capitalized on numerous birdies and we were 8-under through about seven holes.

"We gave a few back, but the Pfau is an incredibly difficult golf course that doesn't lend many birdie opportunities. Guys who played poorly this morning have done a solid job so far in round two of putting that behind them to rebound this afternoon to really help us climb up into fourth place."

Little Rock posted one of the strongest turnarounds in the field, shaving 19 strokes off its opening-round total and putting itself in position to contend heading into Sunday.

Mark Stockdale led the Trojans' charge and sits 8th overall at 1-over, highlighted by a 2-under stretch that helped spark the climb. Ed Featherstone is next at 22nd overall (+4), continuing his steady play, while Elliott Simonsen sits 31st at 6-overafter a composed showing. Viggo Talasmaki is 34th at 7-over, grinding through the round to stay within striking distance, and Rhett South rounds out the lineup at 61st at 11-over.

The Trojans will resume second-round play Sunday morning before closing out the tournament with the final round.