ZIONSVILLE, Ind. – Fighting Illini men's golf sits in a tie for second at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate after 18 holes of play. Due to rainy conditions, the tournament start time was pushed back to noon on Saturday, and the event will be shortened to 36 holes. The final round will begin tomorrow (Sept. 11) at 7:30 a.m. CT. Led by junior Nick Hardy (-2), the Illini shot 4-over par as a team. Big Ten foe, Purdue, is leading the event with a score 7-under par, while the Illini are tied with Kentucky.
Five Illini are among the top 25 after the first round of play, led by Hardy who is tied for second, just one shot out of the lead. Hardy carded four birdies and added another on the 10th hole.
"I thought we started out well today, we had a good look," head coach Mike Small said after the round. "But when the conditions changed and we hit the tough stretch of the golf course, we didn't adapt well. For the first day of our first event, I saw a lot of positive things, but we have to make improvements before tomorrow's round and moving forward this season."
Junior Dylan Meyer joins freshmen Bryan Baumgarten and Michael Feagles in a tie for 19th overall as the three each finished 2-over par. Meyer notched back-to-back birdies on the front nine, helping to negate a double-bogey start to the day. Baumgarten tallied four birdies, making back-to-back birdies to close out his round. Feagles also carded consecutive birdies in his first collegiate round.
Also playing in the Illini lineup, sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli is tied for 25th with a score 3-over par. Lipparelli notched two birdies in the round.
Playing as individuals, sophomore Trevor Gold shot 5-over par on Saturday while freshman Giovanni Tadiotto is currently 7-over par.
Hosted by Indiana, the Wolf Run Intercollegiate is being played at Wolf Run Golf Club in Zionsville, Ind. Wolf Run boasts a Par 71, 7,155-yard course, which is continually mentioned as one of the best golf courses in the Midwest.
The No. 3-ranked Illini join a field of 14 teams including No. 26 Kentucky, No. 37 Louisville, No. 41 Purdue, Indiana, North Texas, Central Florida, Ball State, McNeese State, Akron, Northern Illinois, IUPUI, Miami and Toledo.
Illini tee times for tomorrow's final round begin at 9:10 a.m. CT. Live scoring is available on Golfstat, and a recap will be posted on FIGHTINGILLINI.com following each round.
