March 28, 2010
Delray Beach, Fla. -
Final Team Scores in PDF Format 
Individual Results in PDF Format
No. 12 Illinois returned to its winning ways this weekend with a wire-to-wire victory at the FAU Spring Break Championship, which included seven Big Ten teams. The Illini shot a final round 281 on the par 71 Gleneagles Golf Club's Prestine Course to finish off an 18-shot victory over second-place Iowa, a team that joined Illinois at the NCAA in 2009 and is expected to contend at the Big Ten Championship in May. Individually, Illinois junior Chris DeForest claimed his second career tournament win. The Cottekill, N.Y., native shot a final round one-under par 70 after rounds of 68 and 67 to finish at -8, four shots in front of second-place Doug Fortner of Notre Dame.
Illinois spent the week in Florida training in preparation for the event and DeForest, who made 15 pars and two birdies on the day, said that the preparation made a big impact.
"I was struggling with my game coming into the week to be honest with you," DeForest said. "I just kept working hard and gave myself an opportunity to shoot low scores. My focus is really on helping our team win, and knowing that I have teammates there to back me up really takes the pressure off."
"Chris played within himself," Small said of DeForest's performance. "He took care of the par fives and used a his short game as a big piece to his overall success."
Illinois finished the tournament at -10 (842) while Iowa was at +8 (860). Penn State (+10), Eastern Michigan (+13) and Florida Atlantic (+14) round out the top five teams followed by Michigan at +16. Other Big Ten teams in the field included Minnesota (8th, +26), Ohio State (T10th, +32) and Wisconsin (16th, +57).
"This was a good mature, steady, focused win," said Illinois head coach Mike Small. "We had one really low score, an eraser score we call it, and no really high score that we had to count each round. That is a recipe for success."
Illinois had three players in the top five individually with senior Zach Barlow and junior Scott Langley tying for fifth at -3. Langley had the top round for Illinois on the day with a four-under par 67 after firing six birdies in the first 11 holes. Barlow, meanwhile, shot his second even par round of the tournament, sandwiched between a 68 on Saturday.
Sophomore Luke Guthrie tied for 19th at +4 after a final round 73. At +6, senior Matt Hoffman tied for 35th out of 93 competitors after his third straight 74. Two Illinois players competed as individuals - junior Clayton Parkhill (T57th, +13) and freshman Ross Frankenberg (T75th, +18).
Illinois has three tournaments left prior to the Big Ten Championships which are April 30-May 2 in Minneapolis. That begins next weekend at the Administaff Augusta State Invitational.
"We have five guys that could win any tournament," Small said. "There were a lot of Big Ten teams that will be vying against us here this week, but we emphasized the fact that this tournament is part of the process. Our goal is to improve each week, which we certainly accomplished this week."
