April 20, 2010
Carmel, Indiana -
The Illini won their second tournament of the spring with a wire-to-wire victory at the Crooked Stick Invitational on Tuesday. Junior Chris DeForest took home his second career individual title, firing a combined six-under par 207 (69-67-71) to clear the rest of the field by four strokes. His first title came at the FAU Spring Break Invite earlier this season, a tournament which the Illini also won.
"Coming down the stretch I'm usually only concerned with the team, but this was a unique situation because I knew we had the tournament wrapped up," DeForest said. "There was a little bit of pressure on me but I was able to finish strong."
The Illini entered the day with an 18-stroke lead and finished with a combined 859, 15 strokes ahead of Middle Tennessee State (874) who finished in second place. Other top-five finishers included Purdue (884), Indiana (291) and Xavier (294). Head coach Mike Small said he talked to the team before the round about maintaining their lead, but warned them not to be too conservative.
"There's still a correct way to play golf and an incorrect way," Small said. "You never want to give the team hunting you down any chance of catching you."
The team also got solid performances from junior Scott Langley, who finished second overall at -2 (69-71-71), Zach Barlow, who finished tied for 12th at 7 over (71-74-75), and Luke Guthrie, who finished tied for 14th overall at eight-over par (75-71-75). Senior Matt Hoffman finished in a tie for 42nd at 233 (77-76-80). Clayton Parkhill also competed as an individual and finished tied for 26th with a 227.
"Everyone wants to contribute when the team is playing this well," Barlow said.
Coach Small said the playing conditions on Tuesday were perfect, but the 7,112 yard Crooked Stick Golf Club still played very tough because of the difficult pin positions. Scoring averages for the third round were the highest of any of the three rounds.
The team will have a short week of practice to prepare for the Purdue Boilermaker Invitational on April 24-25, a tournament which they won last year.
