The scheduled 54-hole event was shortened to just 18 holes due to very uncharacteristic weather condition on Hawaii’s Garden Isle. Kauai and most of the Hawaiian islands have experienced unusually high rainfall totals this week.
However, ISU’s Redbirds made the most of their time on the course, outpacing the field by seven strokes with a team score of 278, a healthy 10-under par for the 6,953-yard Makai Course, ranked among the top 100 golf courses in the nation and among the top 50 resort courses in the world.
Leading the way for Illinois State was tournament medalist Matt Miller, who fired a six-under 66 for the round. His score was two strokes better than the 68’s posted by Darren Lundgren of Rollins College and Eric Johnson of North Dakota State.
Rounding out the scoring for the Redbirds were Kris Wildenradt (three-under 69), Matt Maskel (two-under 70), Chris Eddy (73) and Ben Murphy (76).
Taking runner-up honors was Western Illinois (285), paced by Tim Streng with his 69. Princeton was third (286), followed by Rollins (287), Murray State (289), host and 2005 champion WKU (290), Yale (291), North Dakota State (295), Skidmore College (299), Toronto (301), BYU-Hawaii (326) and Walters State (Tennessee) Junior College.
Leading the way for host Western Kentucky was the tournament’s 2005 champ, Robby Shaw, who shot an even-par 72.
