Results (PDF)

MACOMB, Ill. -- The performance of sophomore Gino Parrodi and senior Matt Bird helped lead the Eastern Illinois men's golf squad to a third place finish at the annual Harry Mussato Invitational, hosted by Western Illinois on the Leatherneck's own campus course.

Five Panthers scored in the Top 25 at the two-day, three-round event to help Eastern out-play ten other competiting schools and earn the squad's best team standing of the 2009-10 season.  As a team, the EIU men finished with a 896 (+32) three-round score.

Parrodi shot a five-over-par 221 total to finish all alone in sixth place, which is his best spring finish since placing fourth at the recent Butler Invite to open the season.

Bird, meanwhile, finished just two strokes back, tying in eighth place with a three-day score of 223, which is also a season-best for the senior, after earning a seventh place finish last fall.

Fellow sophomore Kevin Flack tied for 18th off a +14 score of 229, despite having a less than ideal third round of play.

Rounding out the Panther scorers was junior Francisco Cherizola and sophomore David Lawrence, who tied for 20th and 24th, respectively.  EIU sophomore Sean Dozier also competed, independently of the Panther squad, where he captured a 29th place tie.

The host WIU squad won the team title by completing dominating the rest of the field, as the Leathernecks used their home court advantage by finishing with a team score of 859, which was a combined five-under at the par 72, 6862 course.

Wisconsin-Green Bay finished a distant second with a +26 team total of 890.  The Panthers where just six strokes behind UW-Green Bay and finished well ahead of the rest of the field, including regional foes SIU-Edwardsville (5th/918), WIU Gold (7th/922), Bradley (8th/942), IUPUI (12th/990), and Chicago State (13/1074.

Eastern will return to the links on April 4-6, when the guys compete against fellow Ohio Valley Conference foes in the Tennessee State Invitational, which will be played at the Kings Creek Golf Course in Springhill, Tenn.

... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID