McLean County Times

A strong performance by Alex McCulla helped the Redbirds make a notable impact at the 40th Annual Louisiana Classics in Lafayette, Louisiana. McCulla's impressive final round, where he scored five under par through the first seven holes, allowed him to climb 23 spots to finish 38th after completing 54 holes. The team was led by freshman Max Faucquez, who ended the tournament with a three-over 219.

LSU secured the team title with a total score of 845 over three rounds. Texas A&M followed closely with an 847, while Louisiana and Little Rock took third and fourth places with scores of 859 and 865 respectively. Other teams finishing ahead of Illinois State University (ISU), which scored an overall 887, included Sam Houston, South Alabama, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Rice, Oral Roberts, and Texas State.

During his final round, McCulla began with three consecutive birdies and managed to avoid going over par throughout the last 18 holes. Despite a bogey early on, he recovered quickly with a birdie and eagle on his sixth and seventh holes. He concluded his last round at two-under-par with a score of 70 for ISU.

Faucquez maintained consistent scores across all three rounds—72, 73, and 74—and finished as ISU's top individual performer in the tournament at position 26. His final round included one birdie along with several pars and bogeys.

Other notable performances came from Pietro Pontiggia who finished with a score of three-over-par in his last round placing him in position 72; Will Troy ended up in position 45 after scoring four-over-par; TJ Barger tied for position 56 shooting six-over-par; while Francis Bautista placed at position number seventy-seven.

The Redbirds will next compete at the Memphis Intercollegiate on March 31st hosted by Colonial Country Club in Memphis Tennessee.

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