Men's and Women's Golf Bill Salyer

Barger Closes Career with Scoring Record as Redbirds End Season at Regional

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ending the 2025-26 season at the NCAA Columbus Regional, Illinois State senior TJ Barger has ended his Redbird career with the school's career scoring average record, with ISU finishing in a tie of 10th at the event.

Barger's career-ending scoring average of 72.28 (108 rounds, 7,806 strokes) stands just ahead of ISU golf standouts David Perkins (72.35), Trent Wallace (72.71), Joel Durnford (72.83), and Valentin Peugnet (72.97). He also ends his career with the fourth-most rounds at or under par in program history.

Florida ran away with the event, winning by 24 strokes with a 54-hole score of 852, while the remaining four spots to the National Championship would come down to the final few holes with #14 Stanford (876), Memphis (877), #11 Arizona State (882), and #25 Florida State (883) earning a spot. Nationally ranked Utah (35th) finished with an 889, while #23 Long Beach State (890), #48 Cal (891), and Oregon (892) all finished just ahead of ISU's 895. USF (895) tied with the Redbirds, with #38 South Carolina (900) and Wright State (910) chasing the field.

Pietro Pontiggia tied for 18th at the event, ISU's second top-20 finish at a Regional in school history, with only Trent Wallace's seventh place finish in 2017 being a better finish. He closed out the tournament with a four-over 75, using two birdies and 10 pars over his final collegiate round.

Barger closed his Redbird career with a five-over 76, as his final round had a birdie and 12 pars to finish in a tie of 23rd. His final season-ending scoring average of 71.24 is the second lowest in program history, and the 11th-lowest in MVC golf history.

Francis Bautista also closed his collegiate career behind a final-round 75, as he had a birdie and a dozen pars, as he tied for 45th in the tournament field.

Max Faucquez had a birdie and nine pars, finishing with a final-round 79 and tied for 45th, while freshman Sam Ottwell finished in a tie of 67th with a final-round 79 that had a birdie and eight pars.

The Regional appearance was ISU's third in the past four seasons, and the tie for 10th ties the program record for best team finish at the event.