Champaign, Ill. - No. 1-ranked Fighting Illini Men's golf is set for one of the most competitive tournaments in collegiate golf, as Illinois prepares to face a field of top-50 teams at the annual Southern Highlands Collegiate. In its 41st season, the Southern Highlands Collegiate is ranked by Golfweek as the No. 1 tournament in collegiate golf.

"The Southern Highlands event is one of the top events in college golf on one of the best golf courses," head coach Mike Small said of the event. "It's a perfect opportunity for us to gauge ourselves in the early part of our season against many of the top teams in the country. This could be an NCAA preview."

Hosted by UNLV, the 54-hole tournament will be held March 7-9 at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The club boasts a picturesque Par 72, 7,510-yard course, and the Illini will play 18 holes each day. Tee times are set to begin at 10 a.m. CT on Monday, March 7, and can be found, along with live scoring, on Golfstat. 

"The golf course will pose a serious test for us with the windy conditions and the elevation changes," Small said of his expectations.  "It's going to be a great test for us early in the season."

Illinois will see a field of highly ranked teams next week including, No. 4 Southern California, No. 6 Arizona State, No. 8 Alabama, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Florida, No. 13 California, No. 14 Oklahoma State, No. 17 Oklahoma, No. 29 Oregon, No. 32 UCLA, No. 36 UNLV, No. 40 SMU, No. 41 Texas Tech and No. 49 TCU. 

Last season, the Illini finished sixth at the event, with a score 2-under par. Then a junior, Charlie Danielson took sixth place individually, leading the Illini with a score 4-under par, while Nick Hardy finished among the top-25 as well, scoring 2-under par. 

Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest as the Illini take on the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters.