Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Five UIS teammates will tee it up in the Ron Ghidina Memorial

The Stars are aligned for the Ron Ghidina Memorial Championship.

Five players from the University of Illinois-Springfield men’s golf team — led by Pekin native Shane McCafferty — will play in the third-annual event that begins Friday at Lick Creek Golf Course. And all five will call McCafferty’s house their home for the three-day weekend.

“My mom is freaking out about all these guys staying with us,” McCafferty said.

McCafferty, who will be a junior at UIS, had the lowest stroke average for the Prairie Stars last season. He counted 22 rounds in a 79.50 average, helped by a season-low 69. McCafferty’s best finish of the season was a tie for third at the UIS Invitational, where he shot a final-round 72 at Piper Glen in Springfield.

The addition of his four teammates gives the event more of a statewide field than it had in its first two years. Mark Klinger is from Arcola, Zach Szumanski hails from Byron and twin brothers Mike and Ryan McKillips are from Eureka, Mo.

The team was featured in a June 2, 2010, article in the Peoria Journal Star.

Download a PDF of the article