Mundelein, Ill. -- The Wheaton men's golf team traveled up to the northern suburbs this weekend to take part in the Forester Spring Invite at the Countryside Golf Club. The 19-team event was hosted by Lake Forest College and consisted of two rounds of play on the same course across Friday and Saturday. When all the scores were tallied this afternoon, the Thunder had earned their second fourth-place finish in the team's last three events, matching their placement at April 6's Judson Invitational. Three of Wheaton's participants at this weekend's tournament finished in the top 15 of the individual standings.
Aurora University's 'A' team topped the competition table with a two-day total score of 570 (-6). The hosting Foresters' primary squad finished as runners-up on a mark of 576 (E), while Dubuque placed third by a single shot more than Lake Forest. Wheaton came in fourth in the 19-program standings thanks to a cumulative tally of 585 (+9), three strokes ahead of fellow CCIW squad Carthage College in fifth (588, +12). The Thunder were consistent across the two days of play, shooting a combined 293 in Friday's opening round followed by a 292 total this afternoon.
Sophomore
Freddie Chan led the way for the five-man Orange and Blue group this weekend, carding an even-par tournament total of 144 to secure a Top 10 finish on the 105-player leaderboard. The Wheaton native logged a first round mark of 73 (+1) before evening it out with a 71 (-1) today to tie for ninth place as the Thunder's highest finisher.
The junior duo of
Baylor Brogan and
Wyatt Brown entered the clubhouse one stroke off of Chan's pace, tying for 14th in the solo table via two-day scores of 145 (+1). Brogan was one-over on yesterday's initial 18 and improved to an even-par 72 on Saturday, while Brown shot a 74 (+2) through the opening section before matching Chan's 71 (-1) round score today.
Micah Chiong and
Luke Pringle also finished tied on this weekend's leaderboard, as each player carded a tournament tally of 154 (+10) to come in 57th place. The rookie Chiong registered a 76 (+4) in the first round and a 78 from today's 18 holes, while Pringle started hot with a 73 (+1) on Friday before settling for an 81 this afternoon.
After another strong showing on the links, the Thunder face an immediate turnaround for their next competition. Wheaton will close out its regular season schedule in Decatur on Monday and Tuesday at the three-round Butts Classic hosted by Millikin University.
