Illinois State’s Schopp, Purdue Take Inaugural Great Lakes Regional

Green Garden CC--The First ever NCCGA Great Lakes Regional tournament took place at Green Garden Country Club, about 45 minutes southwest of Chicago. The weather was perfect, upper 60’s both days with very little wind.

The field consisted of 7 different schools, with Wisconsin, Marquette, and Purdue all bringing 2 teams. Purdue shot out of the gate early, shooting a 371 as a team on Saturday, led by Bennett Rieke’s tournament-low round of 69. Wisconsin and Notre Dame, who shot 390 and 399, respectively, rounded out the top 3 after day one.

Individually, Illinois State’s Matt Schopp shot a 2-under 70 and teammate Alec Sanderson shot an even par 72 to put them into the top 3 heading into Sunday.

Nothing changed on the team side on Sunday, with Purdue cruising to a score of 749, beating out Wisconsin (775) and Notre Dame (795). The individual race, on the other hand, contained more drama as ISU’s Schopp shot an even par 72 to finish at 2-under overall and take the individual medalist award. Purdue’s Rieke shot a 77 to finish +2 to tie for second with teammate Anthony Zachman, who finished with a one-under 71.

Joining Schopp, Rieke, and Zachman on the all-tournament team were Wisconsin’s Michael Kenning (+5), ISU’s Sanderson (+5),  Marquette’s Patrick Lynch (+6) and Purdue’s Aaron Amick (+6) and Jason Plepel (+7). For Purdue, this was their first regional victory, and could easily be the foundation of a very solid NCCGA program going forward.

The action resumes Oct 5-6 at Morningstar Golfer’s Club in Waukesha, WI, where at least one ticket to the 2013 Fall National tournament at the Barefoot Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC, will be punched.