Hey Illini Nation,

Our team is coming off a historic finish at the 2018 Big 10 Conference Championships this past weekend. We could not be more proud of how we battled throughout all three rounds to earn a second-place finish on the weekend. Something unique about the B1G Conference is that we have a Championship format that allows women's teams to play six players as opposed to the typical five players. That means we play six and count the four best scores, which works in our favor to have an extra player on the course that can put up a steady score on the day.

TPC River's Bend in Maineville, Ohio hosted the Championships for the second consecutive year. We were coming off a huge win at Ohio State the previous weekend, and knew our course knowledge at TPC River's Bend would prove beneficial. We were excited for the task ahead, and knew that as the weekend progressed conditions would be changing too. Each round saw faster and firmer conditions from tee to green. During Sunday's final round we played almost an entirely different course than what we had seen three days prior during our practice round.

On Thursday we took to the course for our practice round. Despite cooler temperatures we got our practice round in and a good feel for the course. Thankfully, we knew that Thursday provided the coldest temperatures expected, so we were happy to have that under our belts. On Thursday night following the practice round we had the annual championship banquet to recognize all participants and graduating seniors. We were lucky enough to have PGA Master Professional and General Manager at TPC Sawgrass, Bill Hughes, as our guest speaker.  Needless to say, his wise words made every single person in the room fully appreciate the game of golf like never before. 

Friday was the opening round of the weekend, and we put up a team score of 292 (+4). Grace and Bing both opened with rounds of 71 - 1-under par - to help our team into fourth place on the day. We were nine strokes behind Michigan State, the leaders at the time, but only a few strokes behind the second and third place teams. With two rounds remaining, we knew picking up a few strokes each day would put us right where we wanted to be.

Round two on Saturday morning saw warmer conditions than expected and we were able to finish the day with score of 290 (+2), two shots better than round one. Bing's 2-under score of 70 had her sitting inside the top-five individually with only one round to go. Round two brought major changes to the leaderboard, as Maryland moved out ahead at 8-under par total. Still though we remained right where we needed to be, and had a solid plan in place for the final round to go in with full confidence in every aspect of our games.

Sunday was the day, though: the BIG day we'd all been waiting for. We were so excited. We were so ready to get out there and show what we're made of. And we did just that! Three players finished inside the top-10 individually, as Grace, Bing, and Jan all tied for eighth place with a three-day total of 2-under par. We put together a team score of 281, 7-under par, to match our lowest single round score in school history. That score propelled up the leaderboard and we watched intently as the word "Illinois" slid into the top position on the board.

We sat behind the 18th green and tirelessly refreshed Golfstat for live scoring updates. We saw our names in the top position for a while, then we would drop to second or third, only to move back into first again. It was tough because with all of us in the clubhouse, we had no control over what would happen as the other top teams came down the stretch. Michigan State picked up quite a few strokes in the final stretch of holes and edged us out for the win. Still, we knew that no matter what the leaderboard said at the end of the round, what we had just witnessed was unlike anything our program has seen in decades. Our second-place finish was our program's highest finish at the conference championships in over 40 years.

There's no question that we had a little extra motivation and energy on the course this weekend. We owe much of that to our absolutely AMAZING group of family, friends, fans, and both former and future Illini that came out to support us. Being a member of the Illini family is a true blessing, and this weekend we truly understood what that means. I've never been more proud to call myself an Illini, and I know my teammates share the same sentiment.

Up next for our squad, we head to Madison, Wisconsin to play in the NCAA Regional Championships held at University Ridge Golf Club. We will see some very familiar faces when we take the course, as we are one of five Big 10 teams competing in the Madison Regional. Competition will run May 7-9, as we compete for a Regional title and secure a trip to the National Championship!

"Keep it in the short grass",

Dana Gattone