Purdue Notes and Stats / Live Scoring
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Purdue men's golf team steps up the competition this weekend at the OFCC / Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club, facing a loaded field in one of college golf's top tournaments. Fifteen of the nation's best teams will play 54 holes spaced over three days beginning Friday. Live scoring will be available on Golfstat.com.
The field will include 12 of the nation's top-32 teams in last year's final Golfweek poll, including three of the top four teams in Texas, Illinois and Oklahoma State. Also appearing are USC (8), Arizona State (12), Alabama (13), Florida State (18), UNLV (25), Texas A&M (27), Baylor (28), North Carolina (30), Northwestern (59), Army (119) and Indiana (127). Eight of the 15 teams competed in last year's NCAA Championships.
Purdue at This Event
- This will mark Purdue's sixth appearance in the OFCC / Fighting Illini Invitational, but the program's first since the 2012 event. Purdue's best finish came in the 2010 invitational, placing tied for ninth out of 15 teams with a score of 18-over par 870 (291-285-294). Fernando Barco has played the course, competing at Olympia Fields CC in the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship.
- The teams will play the North Course, which was ranked by Golf Digest as the 66th-best course in America and No. 51 by Golfweek on the best classic courses list.
Purdue Team Notes
- Purdue placed second at last weekend's season-opening Wolf Run Intercollegiate, shooting 6-over par 574 (277-297) at the weather-shortened event in Zionsville, Indiana. The Boilermakers led after 18 holes after recording the fifth-best round in school history (277) Saturday, but couldn't hold off Illinois in the final round, finishing second.
- Brian Carlson paced the Boilermakers with a third-place finish at 2-under par 140 (68-72). Austin Eoff was T-14th, while Timmy Hildebrand posted a strong showing with a T-18th placing.
- Entering this weekend's event, Purdue has finished in the top five in 13-of-16 fall events during the Bradley era.
- Purdue's 290.50 team stroke average last year was the second-lowest team average in school history. The school record came during the 2001-02 season (288.19). Three of the program's five lowest stroke average totals have come under Bradley.
Purdue Individual Notes
- Austin Eoff ... school-record holder in career stroke average (72.80) ... three-time All-Big Ten honoree (second-team twice; first-team once) ... school-record holder for consecutive top-10 placings (8) ... his 14 career top-10 finishes are fourth in school history ... Golfweek's National Player of the Week (Nov. 2, 2015) ... has recorded 17 rounds in the 60s and has 51 rounds of par or better (115 career rounds) ... has placed in the top 20 in 22-of-39 career events ... led the team in pars made last weekend (25).
- Brian Carlson ... second-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore ... owns a 73.72 career stroke average to rank seventh in school history ... two-time Big Ten Golfer of the Week last year (Sept. 30, March 10) ... finished third at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate, his fifth career top-three finish (best on team) ... led after the first round of the Wolf Run Intercollegiate ... 1-of-3 players in school history to have two 54-hole tournament scores of 207 or better (Adam Schenk, Peter Richardson, Carlson) ... owns seven rounds in the 60s and 22 rounds of even par or better ... scores have counted in 18 straight rounds dating to last year ... needs one more top-10 finish to move into the Purdue career top-10 finish list.
- Fernando Barco ... named a Big Ten Golfer to Watch ... led the team in spring stroke average last year (72.87) ... two-time qualifier for the U.S. Amateur ... named Big Ten Golfer of the Week (April 13) ... his 74.06 career average is the ninth-lowest average in school history ... has eight career rounds in the 60s and 22 rounds of even par or better ... led the team last year in pars made (434) ... led Purdue at the NCAA Stillwater Regional last year with a T-10th showing, carrying the Boilermakers in the final round (73).
- Jarle Volden ... showed steady improvement last year and played his best late in the year ... was T-8th after two rounds at the NCAA Stillwater Regional ... finished T-23rd at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate, his sixth career top-25 finish ... his 65 at the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate equaled the lowest round by a freshman in school history ... had eight rounds of even or under par scores and four rounds in the 60s.
- Timmy Hildebrand ... showed improvement last year and had a great summer, finishing second at the Indiana Open after winning it in 2015 ... had a strong performance in just his second tournament on the counting team, finishing T-18th at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate, his best career placing ... ranked second in the tournament field in birdies (9) ... his opening-round 70 was his lowest career round.
Success Under Coach Bradley
- In 39 events during the Rob Bradley era (fourth year), Purdue has placed in the top five in 24 of them. In the six full previous years (2007-08 to 2012-13), Purdue had 25 top-five finishes in 72 events played.
- Bradley is the first coach in school history to make three straight NCAA appearances to start his career. Purdue has made three straight NCAA appearances for the first time since making four straight from 2004-07. Purdue and Illinois are the only Big Ten teams to make NCAA Nationals during the last three years.
- Purdue's 277 in the opening round of the Wolf Run Intercollegiate marked the 14th time in school history that Purdue has shot 277 or better. Seven of the occurrences have come during the Rob Bradley era.
- There have been 25 rounds in the 270s (or lower) in Purdue history. Nine of them have come during the Bradley era.
- There have been 17 individual rounds of 65 or lower in Purdue history. Seven of them have come in the Bradley era.
- Four of the five lowest 54-hole team scores have come during the Rob Bradley era.
