Feb. 28, 2009

Placida, Fla. - Seventh-ranked Illinois won its sixth straight Tinverin Cup Saturday afternoon at Coral Creek Golf Club in Placida, Fla. The Illini bettered Illinois State 8-1 in the annual dual sponsored by Jeff and Madalyn Tinervin.

The Illini went 3-0 in the morning two-man better ball matches and won five of the six singles matches in the afternoon to win the overall team title. The Illinois duo of Scott Langley (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South H.S.) and Matt Hoffman (Thornhill, Ontario/St. Robert Catholic H.S.) defeated Jeff Kellen and Joe Emerich 3 & 1 in the closest match of the day. Chris DeForest (Cottekill, N.Y./Rondout Valley H.S.) and Luke Guthrie (Quincy, Ill./Quincy H.S.) took out Tommy Bliefnick and Kyle Bragg 5 &4 while Zach Barlow (Percy, Ill./Trico H.S.) and Mason Jacobs (Metropolis, Ill./Massac County H.S.) defeated Will Cullen and Ben Murphy 5 & 3.

The afternoon duels featured one-on-one match-ups in a stroke-play format. Langley had Illinois' best 18-hole score with a 68 to easily defeat Kellen, who shot 78. Guthrie and Barlow also fired under-par rounds. Guthrie fired a 69 to defeat Bliefnick (79) while Barlow shot a 70 to defeat Cullen (73). Jacobs (72) defeated Murphy (79) and Hoffman (73) downed Emerich (77). Bragg (75) scored ISU's only victory, defeating DeForest (79).

"This was a big confidence booster before a real big tournament next week," said Illinois head coach Mike Small. "The whole purpose this week was to compete against outside competition, get the rust off and see where we are at heading into the tournaments ahead. We saw a lot more putts drop today than we saw during the Big Ten Match Play so that was encouraging."

Illinois faces a strong field at the General Jim Hackler Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C., March 8-9.

Morning Matches:
Barlow/Jacobs def. Cullen/Murphy 5&3
DeForest/Guthrie def. Bliefnick/Bragg 5&4
Langley/Hoffman def. Kellen/Emerich 3&1

Afternoon Matches:
Jacobs (72) def. Murphy (79)
Barlow (70) def. Cullen (73)
Guthrie (69) def. Bliefnick (79)
Bragg (75) def. DeForest (79)
Hoffman (73) def. Emerich (77)
Langley (68) def. Kellen (78)

Tinervin Cup History
2009 - Illinois 8, Illinois State 1
2008 - Illinois 8, Illinois State 1
2007 - Illinois 5.5, Illinois State 3.5
2006 - Illinois 5, Illinois State 4
2005 - Illinois 8, Illinois State 1
2004 - Illinois 9, Illinois State 0