Feb. 19, 2005

Placida, Fla. - After a long winter break, the Illinois men's golf team opened the 2005 spring season today in sunny Florida, taking on Illinois State in a dual match at Coral Creek Country Club. In a match play format similar to the Ryder Cup, the Illini won eight of nine contests to defeat the Redbirds 8-1.

The 2nd annual spring match between the schools has been named the "Tinervin Cup" in honor of Jeff Tinervin, an Illinois State alumnus and supporter of both the ISU and Illinois golf programs. The action began with Illinois winning all three doubles matches in the morning to grab a 3-0 lead. The Illini continued its dominance by claiming five of the six singles matches for the 8-1 victory.

"This was the perfect way to start the spring," Illini Head Coach Mike Small said. "The players have a lot of fun with the match-play format, and it's nice to face good competition on a great course after a long winter indoors. We showed a little rust of course, but for the most part our guys stepped up and played well across the board. Hopefully this will get us prepared for our first major test next week in Puerto Rico."

Next up, the Illini head to San Juan for the Puerto Rico Classic, Feb. 27-March 1.

2nd-Annual Tinervin Cup (Illinois vs. Illinois State) Results

Doubles
Garrett Chaussard/Andy Mack (ILL) def. Kyle Vasel/Ryan Brown (ISU), 1-up
Mike O'Neal/Blair Harkins (ILL) def. Matt Maskel/Denny Bull (ISU), 4-3
Danny Zimmerman/Kyle Hosick (ILL) def. Matt Miller/Anthony Imburgia (ISU), 1-up

Singles
1. Garrett Chaussard (ILL) def. Kyle Vasel (ISU), 5-4
2. Blair Harkins (ILL) def. Matt Maskel (ISU), 4-3
3. Danny Zimmerman (ILL) def. Denny Bull (ISU), 3-2
4. Mike O'Neal (ILL) def. Anthony Imburgia (ISU), 2-1
5. Andy Mack (ILL) def. Matt Miller (ISU), 1-up
6. Ryan Brown (ISU) def. Kyle Hosick (ISU), 2-1