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'Birds, Illini Set to Battle for Tinervin Cup
Head Coach Ray Kralis and his Illinois State men's golf team begins its spring season Saturday, competing in the Tinervin Cup at the Coral Creek Club in Placida, Fla. The one-day, dual event pits the Redbirds against in-state rival Illinois.
The inaugural year for the Tinervin Cup was 2004. The event, which is a change from traditional stroke scoring, features three two-on-two, head-to-head better-ball matches and six individual head-to-head stroke-based matches. Each separate match is worth one of nine team points. "This event is a great opportunity for our student-athletes to compete against very good competition at a world class golf course," said Kralis. "It is also a great opportunity for us to learn how to be successful and earn a win over a rival (Illinois)." The Fighting Illini have won each of the first four Tinervin Cups, an event named after Illinois State and Illinois benefactor Jeff Tinervin. The former Illinois State student and Coral Creek Club member will also hold a dinner for the competitors following their practice rounds Friday. Six Redbirds will compete for the cup, including junior Ben Murphy, redshirt sophomore Joe Emerich, sophomores Drew Miller and Tommy Bliefnick and true freshmen Will Cullen and Jeff Kellen. Kralis sees the Tinervin Cup as an opportunity for his team to bounce back from a tough fall season. "We are going to be thrown into the fire of solid competition right out of the gate," said Kralis. "I am still looking for a leader out of this group, but in reality, if we want to play the way we are capable, we are going to need each of our six players to be a leader and take ownership of this team." The Tinervin Cup is set to begin at 7 a.m. CST Saturday with the better ball matches being played in the morning and the single matches starting at 9:30 a.m. CST.
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