OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Led for the second straight round by freshman Emil Soegaard, the No. 21 Arkansas men’s golf team concluded play at the competitive Olympia Fields CC/Fighting Illini Invitational in sole possession of 13th place on Sunday.
Soegaard fired his second three-over 73 of the tournament for his first career top 20 finish. Part of a large group tied for 18th place, Soegaard’s 73-74-73/220 scorecard saw the Demark product finish three-under par on the 7,200-yard course’s par 5s to tie for first amongst the field.
One of 10 ranked teams in the field of 15, Arkansas put together its second four-man score of 301 in the final round. Host No. 6 Illinois fired the lowest round of the tournament on Sunday with a three-under to go from eight strokes down to an 11-stroke victory. No. 17 Florida State finished second while Baylor, who entered the day with the lead, took third.
Redshirt sophomore Zach Coats provided the second counting score of 73 on the day. Coats carded three birdies on the back nine (his first nine) to shoot one-under 34, as he improved by at least three stroke each round (80-77-73). Along with Soegaard and Coats, redshirt junior Kolton Crawford produced three counting scores over the weekend to tie for 49th place. Crawford had the low round of the tournament for the Razorbacks in the first round with a 72 and followed with a 78 and 79. Junior Taylor Moore bounced back from an uncharacteristic first round with a 74 and 76 over the final two rounds, respectively.
Arkansas was without two of its starters from its season-opening appearance at the Carmel Cup, as junior Nicolas Echavarria (Colombia) and freshman Alvaro Ortiz (Mexico) participated in the World Amateur Team Championships in Japan.
Arkansas will be back in action at the Jerry Pate Invitational on Monday, Oct. 6, when it opens with a 36-hole first day at Old Overton. For more information on Arkansas men’s golf, follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.
@RazorbackMGolf Lineup
T18. Emil Soegaard – 73-74-73/220
T49. Kolton Crawford – 72-78-79/229
T54. Zach Coats – 80-77-73/230
T59. Taylor Moore – 83-74-76/233
T64. Gonzalo Rubio – 76-78-81/235
Olympia Fields CC/Fighting Illini Invitational Standings (GCAA Preseason Ranking)
1. Illinois (6) – 294-290-277/861
2. Florida State (17) – 293-296-283/872
3. Baylor – 297-279-300/876
4. Stanford (7) – 294-299-289/882
5. Oklahoma State (2) – 295-296-294/885
6. Texas (4) – 308-288-296/892
7. Colorado – 304-289-300/893
8. Virginia Tech (23) – 291-302-302/895
9. Alabama (1) – 300-296-301/897
10. Oklahoma (11) – 299-296-303/898
11. Texas A&M (19) – 304-290-306/900
12. Michigan – 304-294-305/903
13. Arkansas (21) – 301-303-301/905
14. UConn – 309-297-303/909
15. Indiana – 303-312-307/922