Peru, IN - The McKendree University Men's Golf team competed at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship this week, playing three stroke play rounds at Rock Hollow Golf Club between Wednesday and Thursday. The Bearcats were within the match play cut line after round one and even after round two, but multiple teams playing in the red numbers on the third and final round put McKendree behind the eight ball and caused a fall to sixth place, ending their hopes at advancing to match play despite quality golf. All four of coach Mikal Guffey's four scoring players finished inside of the top 50, led by Tristan Traustason and Trystan Du Plessis, who both finished tied for 24th place and inside of the Individual Top 25. 

The Bearcats wound up all at least one over par by the end of the first round. However, there will still red numbers everywhere on their scorecards. Thierry Boucher led the way with six birdies, including four on the back nine and three straight between holes 15-17. Traustason and Du Plessis both had four-birdie rounds, while Edison Wu joined Boucher at the top with six birdies. The Bearcats did their best on the 296-yard par-four 1st, with the scoring four playing it at -3, with Du Plessis, Traustason, and Wu all getting birdie. 

McKendree would show a six-stroke improvement as a team to stay within hopes of match play with one round to go. It would turn out to be their cleanest round of the tournament. Pe Nontarux paced the team, nearly breaking par with an E/72. Nontarux birdied three times on the front nine and twice on the back nine, while Wu (3), Traustason (2), and Ethan Lang (2) all had multi-birdie rounds. The best single-hole result came from Boucher, who would drop an eagle on the 332-yard par-four 13th, a hole that Lang and Du Plessis birdied as well. 

The third round saw a strong majority of the Bearcats slice through the front nine with 11 combined red numbers. Particularly, it would be Lang and Traustason with low scores early, combining to be -2 within the first five holes. Lang birdied three straight times on the 3rd-5th holes. Lang would birdie three more times on the back nine for another six-birdie round for McKendree. Traustason, Du Plessis, and Nontarux would all birdie once on the back nine, as the Bearcats maintained pace, but faced surging squads just above them on the leaderboard to push them out of any potential match play on Friday. 

FULL INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Tristan Traustason | T-24th | +12
Trystan Du Plessis | T-24th | +12
Edison Wu | T-39th | +15
Pe Nontarux | T-44th | +16
Thierry Boucher | T-63rd | +26
Ethan Lang | 67th | +28

FULL TEAM SCORING
1st | #45 Missouri S&T Miners | -6
2nd | #44 UMSL Tritons | +1
3rd | Drury Panthers | +6
4th | UIndy Greyhounds | +23
5th | Lewis Flyers | +32
6th | McKendree Bearcats | +36
7th | Rockhurst Hawks | +37
8th | UIS Prairie Stars | +49
9th | Quincy Hawks | +51
10th | Maryville Saints | +53
11th | Upper Iowa Peacocks | +72
12th | Lincoln Blue Tigers | +87
13th | William Jewell Cardinals | +88