Final Results | NCAA Men's Golf | NCAA Regionals Results
Kohler, Wis. – Fighting Illini men's golf won its fourth consecutive NCAA Regional title on Wednesday, using a 7-under par final round to overcome Florida by four strokes in the final few holes of play. The Illini finished 11-under par for the tournament. Four Illini placed among the top 25 individually, led by seniors Charlie Danielson and Thomas Detry who tied for third place. Illinois' streak of nine consecutive national championship appearances is the second-longest in the nation, just one behind Texas and USC which have qualified for the past 10 seasons.
Also advancing to the NCAA Championship out of the Kohler Regional will be Florida (-7), Arkansas (-7), Florida State (-6) and Baylor (-6). Individually, Ohio State's Tee-K Kelly will also advance to Eugene Country Club. Kelly shot 7-under par to take medalist honors at the Kohler Regional.
"Four consecutive regional wins says a lot, that is consistency over time and it's very hard to do," head coach Mike Small said. "Our two seniors stood out today, they finished tied for third. They're the reason right now, but the rest of the team piggybacked and played solid. The back nine was the story of the day. We were treading water after nine holes, but then the back nine was just solid. Florida played better than us this week, but we finished stronger."
Both Danielson and Detry shot 2-under for the day on Wednesday, sitting 4-under par for the tournament. Danielson started the day with a birdie on the first hole, but he shot even on the front nine. Danielson notched two birdies on the back nine to get back to 2-under. The Osceola, Wisconsin, native has placed among the top-5 individuals in seven tournaments this season.
Detry tallied two birdies on the front nine, helping to negate his only bogey on the sixth hole. He added one more birdie on the 15th hole before the day was done. This marks his sixth top-5 finish of the year.
Sophomore Nick Hardy posted his best round of the tournament on Wednesday, firing a 2-under par tally. He negated an early bogey with two birdies on the front nine, and added another two birdies after making the turn. Hardy tied for 12th individually with a total score 1-under par.
Tying for 21st individually, sophomore Dylan Meyer shot 1-under par through the final round of play to finish at even par for the tournament. He started the day with a birdie on the first hole, but a bogey on the front nine put him at even par making the turn. He carded two more birdies on the back nine, negating a late bogey in the round.
In his first NCAA Regional appearance, freshman Edoardo Lipparelli tied for 48th individually. He shot 6-over par for the tournament, putting up a final round tally of 1-over. Lipparelli started the day with two birdies on the front nine before finding some difficulty at the turn. He was 1-over on the front nine, but came back to shoot even on the back portion of the course.
The NCAA Championship will be held at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Oregon, May 27-June 1. The top five teams and top individual not on a qualifying team from each of the six NCAA regional sites qualify to compete at the Championship.
Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com as the Illini continue to prepare for the national championship.
