After a slow start, top-10 finishes for the SIU men's and women's golf teams have the teams headed in the right direction.
The Salukis' men's team shot a final-round of 305 at the Diablo Grande Invitational Tuesday in Patterson, Calif., edging Columbia University for sixth place after opening the season with a 16th place finish at the Samford Invitational.
Sophomore Blake Driskell finished 11th overall at 14-over-par to lead SIU.
Following Driskell were juniors John Danielson and Phillip Collier, who finished 21st at 19-over-par and 31st at 24-over-par respectively. As a team, SIU was able to finish three places higher than tournament host and Missouri Valley Conference rival Drake.
The tournaments gave SIU the opportunity to play outdoors for the first time this season. The Salukis have been unable to play outside due to the unfavorable weather conditions in the southern Illinois region.
Coach Leroy Newton said he was impressed with how his team has progressed since the first match and said he expects improvement as the season moves forward.
"The kids didn't like the high scores and they're not used to the high scores, so they're going to get with it and get better," Newton said.
While the men were disappointed with their finish, the women fared better on their side of the Diablo Grande Invitational, which ran from Sunday until Tuesday.
SIU shot a final-round 313 en route to posting a team score of 962, which was good enough for second place.
Even though the Salukis finished 10 strokes behind tournament champion Minnesota, their second-place finish was better than conference rivals Northern Iowa (3rd), Drake (4th), Wichita State (7th) and Creighton (9th).
Kelly Gerlach finished tied for second overall, posting a 21-over-par after three rounds. Teammates Lauren May, Christine Zoerlein and Kate Laegeler also finished in the top-15 of individual scorers.
Coach Diane Daugherty said the tournament was tough, but provided momentum going into the Saluki Invitational.
"We had a chance to maybe take Minnesota, but they played really well in the last round," Daugherty said. "Beating all the Valley teams there is obviously a confidence booster."
Luis C. Medina can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 238 or lcm1986@siu.edu.
