Final Results
ZIONSVILLE, Ill. – Fighting Illini men's golf overcame an 11-stroke deficit at the rain-shortened Wolf Run Intercollegiate on Sunday to earn its first team title of the season. Junior Nick Hardy also pulled in his first tournament title of the year at the 36-hole event with a score 4-under par. All seven Illini finished among the top 30 individually, and all five Illini competing in the team lineup placed among the top six. Purdue (+6) and Kentucky (+7) round out the top three team finishers at the tournament.
"There was a lot of strength throughout the lineup today," head coach Mike Small said. "When you come in against a top team like Purdue, and you're 11 back, you have to play some solid golf. Dylan Meyer coming in and shooting 5-under today was big. I always talk about taking leadership on the course, and that's what he did. This is a big win for Nick (Hardy), who played solid both days and kept us in the tournament yesterday. The two veterans did their jobs and the freshmen also played solid today."
Hardy shot 2-under par on Sunday to finish just one stroke ahead of fellow junior Dylan Meyer. Hardy carded four birdies helping to negate two bogeys throughout the day. After a 2-over par score on Saturday, Meyer shot 5-under par on Sunday to close the 36-hole event at 3-under par. He started the day with a birdie on the first hole before adding two more on the front nine, negating a bogey on the sixth hole. He was bogey-free after the turn, adding three more birdies to his tally.
Freshman Michael Feagles took fifth individually, closing the tournament at even par. Feagles got off to a rough start on Sunday with back-to-back bogeys, but recovered with six birdies for the day. He shot 2-under par for the second round.
Sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli and freshman Bryan Baumgarten tied for sixth individually, scoring just 1-over par. Lipparelli shot 2-under par on Sunday, tallying four birdies in the round. Baumgarten was 1-under for the day, adding three birdies to the team tally. All seven Illini competing combined for 28 birdies in the final round of play.
Competing as individuals, sophomore Trevor Gold and freshman Giovanni Tadiotto tied for 29th individually, both scoring 7-over par. Gold shot 2-over par in the final round, while Tadiotto shot even.
Hosted by Indiana, the Wolf Run Intercollegiate was held at Wolf Run Golf Club in Zionsville, Ind., 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 competed among 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.
"We established some things today that Illinois golf teams do," Small said. "As a coach, I'm looking for this young team to get in the habit of playing like that consistently. Next week we're going to have to, because we will be competing against a strong field. After today, I'm happy that we established the things that we need to do in order to play well."
The Orange and Blue will be back in action next week, hosting the annual OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Golf Course. The tournament will begin on Friday, Sept. 16 and continue through Sept. 18.
Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest on Illinois men's golf.
