Salukis finish ninth at NCAA Regionals, Richie records school’s highest finish

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Southern Illinois Men’s golf team wrapped up day three of the West Lafayette Regional finishing in ninth place with a team score of 875 (+11), missing the qualifying threshold by 13 strokes.

The Salukis started the regional slow with a round-one score of 298 (+10), but round two saw them bounce back with a score of 289 (+1). Southern was able to carry its strong play into the final round with a score of 288 (E), the fourth-best of any team on the day.

Head Coach Justin Fetcho shared his thoughts on the team’s best round on day three.

“We had a goal to shoot the best score of the day, today. We got off to a tough start and fought back,” he said. “I am very proud of the way we played today, having the fourth-best score of the day and to shoot even par on that course was really solid.”

Dain Richie led the way for the Salukis, finishing tied for 10^th with a score of 213 (-3). Richie had a strong round two with a low score of 69 (-3, and he finished day three breaking the school record for the highest finish at a NCAA Regional, previously held by Peyton Wilhoit, who finished 12^th in 2019.

Edouard Cereto continued his hot streak to end the season, finishing tied for 14^th with a score of 214 (-2). Round two and three of the tournament were his best with scores of 71 (-1) each day.

Other notable finishes for the Salukis

Leon Heitz, T48, (223 +7)
Hugo Archer, T57, (227 +11)
Andrew Thornton/Oliver Ulrich, T73 (83, +11) | (74, 85 +15)

Fetcho gave his thoughts on his roster for the 2023-24 season.

“These guys have improved and grown throughout the year, its tough to see the season end,” he said. “This will go down as one of the best teams in school history, they had the lowest stroke average in school history, they are MVC champions and have the best NCAA regional finish in school history.”

Fetcho further elaborated on how the Salukis finished the season.

“People don’t realize the performance that these guys put on toward the end of the season, two top four finishes in Big 10 events, winning conference as an underdog and then finish 9^th in a NCAA regional only missing nationals by 13 strokes,” he said. “We were not supposed to be that close, our guys knew we were a good team with good players and defied the odds the last several weeks.”

A full tournament breakdown can be accessed via the Live Results.