The Illini enjoyed a great trip to North Carolina to play in the Greenville Regional Preview event hosted by East Carolina. The tournament was originally set to be held at a different course that was closer to the Tar River. Due to flooding from Hurricane Matthew, there was a last minute change of plans and the event was moved to Brooke Valley Golf Course, which is on the other side of the city and outside of the potential flood zone. ECU head coach Kevin Williams and the entire staff at Brook Valley did an incredible job preparing the course for the tournament, even with just a few days notice.

This tournament was especially memorable for me because, for the 8^th year in a row, I was blessed enough to spend my birthday doing what I love most. On October 17^th, day 1 of competition, I celebrated my 21^st birthday. Being out on a gorgeous course with temperatures at a perfect 75 degrees, and my parents flying in to support and see me on my special day, it's safe to say it was a picture perfect birthday.  

The course provided quite the challenge for each and every player in the field. Firm conditions combined with large, undulating greens rolling somewhere around 13 (very fast) provided a new challenge at every turn. The course required accuracy from tee to green, and was a great test of course management. The tournament provided a great opportunity to challenge the team both physically and mentally, which is something we will appreciate in the long run.

The first day was a shotgun start where we were set to play 36 holes. As often occurs on a more difficult course, play took a bit longer than expected and was suspended due to darkness. Most players had only two or three holes left to play. The team battled hard all day, and put together a score of 310 in the first round, finishing the day one shot outside the top-5. We were determined to finish off round 2 strong and get after it in round 3.

On day two we were set to finish the 2^nd round and play the 3^rd round, all in time to catch our flight home that evening. We battled hard and gave it our all, and came in with a final day score of 309, finishing in 6^th place in a strong field of 16 teams, and placed 2 individuals in the top-20.  Though it wasn't the ideal finish we had hoped for, there were a lot of positives to draw and learn from. We had a quick turnaround before heading to Kentucky to finish the season strong at the Cardinal Cup.

In the meantime, keep it in the short grass, my friends!

Go Illini,

Dana Gattone