Nov. 3, 2008

Champaign, Ill. - It was an historic fall for the Fighting Illini men's golf team. Illinois returned all five starters from a 17th-place NCAA squad and it didn't take long for the Illini to move up into an entirely new class.

Illinois received votes in the first two NIKE/Golf World Coaches poll, but jumped from completely out of the rankings to fourth following an impressive victory at the Olympia Fields Fighting Illini Invitational. Illinois placed second at the season opening Wolf Run Invitational the week before and welcomed a field that included three of the top five teams in the nation, including defending national champion UCLA and runner-up Oklahoma State.

There were several things that made the Olympia Fields victory even more remarkable. First Illinois darted to a first round lead along with fellow Big Ten foes Indiana and Penn State and never wilted under the pressure. Oklahoma State made a charge in the second round with the best round of the tournament (281) and led the Illini by one stroke heading into the final round.

Illinois was paired with Oklahoma State and pre-season Big Ten favorite Indiana in that third round. The second-to-last-pairing of the day featured Illini Zach Barlow playing with two of the individual favorites to win the national title in Indiana senior Jorge Campillo and Oklahoma State sophomore Rickie Fowler.

The Illini and Barlow watched as competitors stumbled down the stretch. Barlow and Illinois sophomore Scott Langley, meanwhile, each shot a tournament best 67 in the final round. Barlow saved par from a fairway bunker on the last hole to tie for the title with Indiana's Alex Martin, while Langley took fourth.

Illinois won the tournament by a whopping 11 strokes over the Hoosiers, 12 over Oklahoma State, 15 over Stanford and 34 over UCLA. That performance combined with another convincing victory the following week at the Windon Memorial helped the Illini against the computer. Illinois bettered Indiana by five and the rest of a mainly regional field by 22 strokes at the Windon. Individually, sophomore Chris DeForest shot a final round 64, giving the sophomore the best two rounds in school history to go along with his 63 at the 2007 D.A. Weibring Invitational.

That week, Illinois emerged as the top-ranked team nationally according to the Golfstat computer rankings, the BCS of college golf. Golfweek's computer ranking, meanwhile, listed the Illini third. A heavy dose of publicity followed. Golf World 's Ryan Herrington listed Illinois in his top five. Golfweek's Lance Ringler featured Illinois as his team of the week twice and local news media descended on Illinois golf to document the story.

Illinois used a final round surge to better upset-minded and host Illinois State to win the D.A. Weibring Invitational. Again not only the win, but also the margin of victory, was the story as the Illini won by 18 strokes. Langley won his second career tournament, using rounds of 64 and 67 to shoot a nine-under par 201. Freshman Luke Guthrie, playing in just his second tournament, sunk a 60-foot birdie putt early in his round en route to a final round 64.

The next week the coaches' poll confirmed Illinois' resurgence, listing the Illini fourth with five first-place votes, and Illinois prepared to face another elite field at the season-ending Isleworth Invitational.

Illinois shot a respectable +9 in the second round, but could not match that in the first and third rounds en route to an 11th in a field of 18, which included 13 ranked teams and eight of the nation's top nine teams. The Illini didn't let that dampen what was a great fall season.

"The biggest thing I take away is our team has continued its progression and improvement," said Illinois head coach Mike Small. "We opened some eyes at the Big Ten and National Championship in the spring. This fall we picked up where we left off and demonstrated we are moving in the right direction."

What has and continues to make the Illini tough is the balance on the team. Along with Barlow and Langley's victories, junior Matt Hoffman , DeForest and Guthrie all collected top tens. Hoffman had a pair of them tying for seventh at the Windon and a third, along with Guthrie, at the D.A. Weibring. DeForest, meanwhile, place third at the Windon. As a team Illinois players combined for 15 top 15s. Four players have now won collegiate tournaments.

"As a team I think we take a lot of confidence from the fall," Langley said. "We played solid in a lot of tournaments. We proved to ourselves we can compete with a lot of the top teams in the country when we have our best stuff and at Isleworth that if we don't have our best stuff, we're still going to get beat."

Five Illini shot a round of 67 or better and four - DeForest (64), Guthrie (64), Langley (64) and Hoffman (65) all had rounds of 65 or better, showing that anyone in the line-up is capable of shooting a low score.

"The guys are becoming better players individually," Small said. "When they become better individual players, we become a better team. The majority of those scores were on courses that weren't easy. To be able to shoot those scores on those courses shows they are becoming better players."

Illinois posted a 61-11 record overall in the fall, finishing ahead of eight ranked teams in tournaments. Illinois finished its season eighth in Golfstat computer rankings. The coaches' poll is due out next week. Of the four players who participated in every tournament, Langley leads the way with a 71.07 stroke average, which helped move him up to a career-best 21st in the Golfweek rankings. Five players averaged 73.27 or better during the fall.

Although the fall was rewarding, the Illinois team has larger goals, including the school's first Big Ten title in 20 years and even greater success at the NCAA Tournament. In order to achieve the former, the Illini will have to go through the likes of Indiana and Michigan, conference tournament host Penn State and an array of other Big Ten teams who are having solid seasons thus far. What Illinois takes from the season, however, is the knowledge that they can compete with the best. The successes in September and October have proven that.

"Right now it's starting to set in with the kind of fall season we had," Barlow said. "The ranking is great, but we still have to keep working and trying to get better heading toward the Big Ten and National Championships."

Small believes his club has the right mentality to strive for those lofty goals.

"They are pretty grounded," Small said. "Even though they are young, they are a mature group. They remember where they were a year or two ago and have benefited from all the hard work in practice. That has to continue to stay where they are. We want to get better every week and play our best in April, May and June."