Live Scoring / Boilermaker Invite Records / Season Stats / Weather Forecast
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ââ'¬" The No. 35-ranked Purdue men's golf team begins its postseason preparations this weekend, hosting the 14th annual Boilermaker Invitational on Saturday and Sunday at the Kampen Course.
Fifteen teams will play 36 holes on Saturday, beginning at 8:45 a.m. ET, and 18 more on Sunday starting at 8 a.m., for the chance to improve their standings entering collegiate golf's postseason.
This will be the final tune-up before the Boilermakers head to the East Coast for the Big Ten Championships on April 28 to 30. The event will be contested at Five Farms East Golf Course at the Baltimore Country Club in Baltimore, Maryland.
It will also give teams in the field a glimpse at how the Kampen Course will play for the NCAA Golf Regionals on May 15 to 17. Should Purdue likely qualify, the Boilermakers will play at the West Lafayette Regional on their home course.
The Boilermakers are looking to put it all together this weekend, aiming for their first team title of the year against a field that features nine of the nation's top 100 teams. Purdue (35th) will challenge for the team title against Kent State (11th), UNLV (17th), Northwestern (34th), Michigan (49th), UCF (53rd), Michigan State (54th), Ohio State (58th), Cincinnati (90th), Indiana (126th), Wisconsin (143rd), Toledo (164th), Miami of Ohio (186th) and Northern Illinois (188th).
Purdue is coming off a seventh-place showing at the competitive Hootie at Bull's Bay Invitational by shooting a 3-under par 861. Over its last three tournaments, Purdue is a combined 2-under par, posting 5-of-9 rounds at even-par or better.
The Boilermakers have finished in the top half in 7-of-9 tournaments this year, despite facing a schedule ranked in the nation's top 30. The only tournaments Purdue did not finish in the top half are the Olympia Fields Country Club Invitational (T-8th / 15) and the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate (7th / 13).
The Boilermakers' current team stroke average of 289.00 is the second-best average in school history, just behind the 2001-02 squad (288.19). In addition, 10 of Purdue's 23 rounds have been even or under-par, a percentage of 43.5 percent, which is the highest percentage of even / under-par rounds in school history.
Leading the Boilermakers is senior Fernando Barco with an 18-hole average of 72.35 strokes per round. He has finished in the top 12 in each of the last three tournaments, posting a combined score of 11-under par in those three events. He has posted seven straight rounds of even-par or better, the second-longest streak in school history and his stroke average is second in Purdue history.
Austin Eoff ranks second on the team in stroke average (72.61) and has posted 10 rounds or even-par or better. Eoff will become the seventh member of the 10,000-stroke club this weekend, coming in his 49th career event and his 138th round (Saturday's second round). Eoff owns 24 career top-20 finishes and 15 top-10 placings.
Brian Carlson is third on the team with a 73.09 stroke average, good for 15th on the Purdue single-season chart. Carlson is second on the team in first- and second-round stroke average, but slips to fifth in round-three scoring.
Timmy Hildebrand (73.26) and Jarle Volden (74.43) round out Purdue's lineup. Volden has played very well this spring, ranking second on the team in spring scoring average (71.78), posting consecutive top-20 finishes. He is a combined 3-under par over his last two tournaments.
Chad Phillips and Thomas Lewis will compete as individuals.
