Sept. 27, 2007
Olympia Fields, Ill. -
An elite 12-team golf field converges on Chicagoland this weekend for the Second Annual Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational.
The tournament is a 54-hole format with the first two rounds taking place on Sunday and the final round on Monday at the 7,200-yard, par-70 Olympia Fields North course. Olympia Fields has over 90 years of history and has been the site of 16 major championships through the years, including the 2003 U. S. Open
Defending national champion and top-ranked Stanford highlights the field, which includes seven ranked teams - Stanford (1), Oklahoma State (7), Florida State (8), Duke (13), Tennessee (15), Arizona State (17) and Texas (23). Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern are also receiving votes in this week's Golf World/NIKE coaches' poll.
"One of our main goals is to play the best golf courses in the country and against the best competition," said Illinois head coach Mike Small. "We accomplish both this week by playing on a U.S. Open course against a field that is as good as it gets in college golf."
Stanford won the national title last year by 12 strokes. Rob Grube of Stanford is the highest returning individual at this year's tournament after placing third at last year's NCAA Championships held in Williamsburg, Va. Other top individuals participating this weekend are Matt Savage (9th at the NCAA meet) of Florida State, Trent Leon (T-15th) of Oklahoma State, and Daniel Lim (T-15th) of Stanford.
Duke returns to defend last year's Fighting Illini Invitational title. The Blue Devils edged Stanford by six strokes a year ago and Illinois placed ninth in the stellar field in 2006.
This will mark the second tournament of the season for the Fighting Illini. Illinois placed 10th at the Gopher Invitational Sept. 15-16 in Minneapolis, Minn. The Illini started two freshmen and a sophomore at the meet with two of the nation's top junior players - Scott Langley and Chris DeForest making their Illini debut. Senior Mark Ogren was the top Illinois finisher, placing 19th individually.
"The University of Illinois is extremely grateful to Olympia Fields for extending their generosity to co-host one of the best college golf events with them," added Small.
Fans are invited to watch some of the top stars of collegiate golf. Admission to the Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational is free. Live scoring will be available through Golfstat.com.
