University of Illinois
NCAA Regional
Illini Set for Eighth Consecutive NCAA Regional
May 12, 2015 | Men's Golf
Illinois Men's Golf Looks for Third-Straight Regional Title
| 2015 NCAA Noblesville Regional | |
|---|---|
| When | May 14-16 |
| Where | The Sagamore Club // Noblesville, Ind. |
| Course Info | Par 72 // 7,173 yards |
| Format | First Round (18): Thursday, May 14 // 7 a.m. CT | Second Round (18): Friday, May 15 // 7 a.m. CT | Third Round (18): Saturday, May 16 // 6:30 a.m. CT |
| Illinois Lineup | Nick Hardy, Thomas Detry, Brian Campbell, Dylan Meyer, Charlie Danielson |
| Live Scoring/td> | GolfStat |
| Illinois Notes | NCAA Notes |
ILLINI IN SEARCH OF THIRD-STRAIGHT REGIONAL TITLE
Including this year's appearance in Noblesville, the Illini have qualified for an NCAA Regional in each of the last eight seasons. This year's No. 1 seed, however, marks the highest seeding for an Illinois team in program history. Two Illini have taken medalist honors at NCAA Regionals, Brian Campbell (2014) and Luke Guthrie (2011), and as a team the Illini are coming off back-to-back titles at the NCAA Regional competition. Illinois won both the Fayetteville Regional in 2013 and the Sugar Grove Regional in 2014.
LAST TIME AT REGIONALS
Illinois was slated for the Sugar Grove Regional last season, held at Rich Havest Farms. Taking home the team title, the Illini shot 16-over par to edge out UAB by two shots. Then a junior, Brian Campbell took medalist honors at the tournament by four strokes.
ILLINI CLEAN UP AT BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Illini came out of the 2015 Big Ten Championships with their 13th trophy in program history. The Illini took the tournament by 32-strokes, the only team to finish play under par. Not only that, but freshman Nick Hardy won co-medlaist honors at the tournament, marking the fifth consecutive medalist from Illinois. Danielson split the title last season afterLuke Guthrie took the honors in 2011 and 2012, and Thomas Pieters won the tournament in 2013. llinois is only the fourth school in Big Ten history to have five consecutive medalists, following only Michigan (1932-1936), Purdue (1956-1960) and Ohio State (1976-1979). All five Illinois players finished among the top-11 individuals in this year's championships.
Illinois Big Ten Medalists (17)
Year Player (site)
2015 Nick Hardy (Newburgh, Ind.)
2014 Charlie Danielson (French Lick, Ind.)
2013 Thomas Pieters (French Lick, Ind.)
2012 Luke Guthrie (French Lick, Ind.)
2011 Luke Guthrie (West Lafayette, Ind.)
1999 Larry Nuger (West Lafayette, Ind.)
1993 Jamie Fairbanks (Bloomington, Ind.)
1989 Steve Stricker (Madison, Wis.)
1988 Steve Stricker (Savoy, Ill.)
1986 Steve Stricker (East Lansing, Mich.)
1982 Mike Chadwick (West Lafayette, Ind.)
1962 Mike Toliuszis (Savoy, Ill.)
1942 James McCarthy (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
1941 Alex Welsh (Lake Forest, Ill.)
1931 Richard Martin (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
1930 Richard Martin (Wilmette, Ill.)
1923 R.E. Rolfe (Evanston, Ill.)
CLEANING UP THE B1G AWARDS
For the fourth consecutive year, Illinois golfers have recorded the most Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors in the league, earning nine. Brian Campbell was the team's first honoree this season, and he finishes the year with two nods. Thomas Detry dominated the award list, winning five golfer of the week honors. Charlie Danielson also joins the honorees as he won on Oct. 22 and April 22. Not only do the nine honors mark the most won by any Big Ten team this season, but the most for any Big Ten team since the league began distributing golfer of the week honors in both the fall and spring seasons.
The Illini also cleaned up the yearly awards taking Coach of the Year (Small), Player of the Year (Detry) and Freshman of the Year (Hardy). This marks the second time that the Illini have taken home all three yearly accolades as Small, Detry and Thomas Pieters cleaned up the awards in 2013 as well. Senior Brian Campbell, juniors Charlie Danielson andThomas Detry and freshman Nick Hardy were also named to the All-Big Ten First Team, while freshman Dylan Meyerearned second team honors this season.
ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
The Illini closed the regular season with a very successful performance at the Boilermaker Invitational.. Illinois pulled in the team trophy as well as the top four individual awards. Winning the tournament by 32 strokes, Illinois carded a score of 829 good for 35-under par. The number is the second-lowest 54-hole total in team history. Not only that, but the team's 268 second-round tally tied the lowest 18-hole total in school history as well. Success under Coach Small
Head coach Mike Small has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times overall during his 15-year tenure as Illinois head coach. Along with his streak of five consecutive conference titles (2009-13), Illinois posted three straight runner-up finishes from 2002-04 and took third in 2008 with Small at the helm.
ILLINI FOR THE WIN
Illinois has picked up a total of seven team wins this season. In total, the Illini have won 83 tournaments in program history. This season's seven wins ties for the most in a season, with the 2008-09 squad who also tallied seven team wins. The Illini have seen each of their top five players win a tournament this season as well, bringing the total to seven individual medals in six tournaments this season. The last time the Illini saw individuals take medalist honors in six tourna,ents was the 1987-88 season when head coach Mike Small was a member of the Fighting Illini Men's Golf team.
ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
Ranked at No. 4 on GolfStat, the Illini sit at No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. The trio of Thomas Detry, Charlie Danielson and Brian Campbell lead the way for Illinois as they are all individually ranked among the top 25, according to Golfweek. Detry comes in at No. 8 on the list, while Danielson sits at No. 14. Campbell ranks 22nd overall.
The three also sit among the top 100 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), as Campbell comes in 11th, Detry ranks 18th, Danielson comes in at No. 31 and freshman Nick Hardy ranks 94th.
Detry Named to Team Europe for 2014 Palmer Cup... Again
Thomas Detry was selected to the 2015 Palmer Cup team, as announced on April 17. Detry will join the European squad for the second consecutive year. Once again, Detry joins former Illini Thomas Pieters and Scott Langley on the prestigious list of participants in the Palmer Cup. Langley played for Team USA in 2010, while Pieters played for the European side in 2012. The Ryder Cup-style event for college golfers will take place June 12-14 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Five Illini Make Noise In Professional Golf
Illinois boasts five former players on two of professional golf's top tours, as Steve Stricker, D.A. Points, Luke Guthrie andScott Langley hold PGA Tour cards and Thomas Pieters is a member of the European Tour. Stricker recently closed play at the Masters, finishing T-28. Points has two top-30 finishes this season, while Langley is coming off of a 1-over par performance at the RBC Heritage Cup. Guthrie also finished 1-over par the Heritage Cup and has two top-20 finishes under his belt this season.
NCAA Seeding, Tee Times and Format
Following Regional competition, the top five teams and one individual at each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships. This year, the event will begin with a 54-hole stroke play competition starting on May 29.
The top eight teams after the third round of stroke play will advance to the match-play portion of the championship, while the top 40 individuals will compete in a final round of stroke play to crown an individual national champion from the field of 156 participants (30 teams plus six individuals). Players will be paired according to standing order.
The Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the final three days of the championships, starting with the final round of stroke play competition on June 1 from 4-7 p.m. ET. The network will then air coverage of the match-play quarterfinals live on June 2 from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and semifinals from 3:30-7 p.m. Coverage of the championship match is set for 3-7 p.m. on June 3.
