Round 1 Results | Round 2 Results | Round 3 Tee Times | Live Scoring | Live VideoÂ
LAFAYETTE, La. - Fighting Illini men's golf opened the spring season at the 32nd Annual Louisiana Classics on Monday, closing the second round of play in fourth place with a team total at even par. Junior Nick Hardy currently leads the Illini, sitting among the top players on the leaderboard as he is tied for second. Hardy shot a career-low 66 in the opening round, and currently sits 6-under par through two rounds of play. Kent State currently leads the tournament with a team total 15-under par. LSU (-9) and Texas A&M (-1) are also among the top-three on the leaderboard.
"For the first competitive round of the year, it wasn't our sharpest effort as a team," head coach Mike Small said. "Nick Hardy's opening round kept us in there, it was good to see him come out of the box like that. Individually there were some good moments, but today wasn't our strongest as a team, it gives us a lot of things to build on for tomorrow and for the coming weeks."
Hardy got off to a fast start Monday morning, recording consecutive birdies to start the day. He made the turn at 3-under par, going on to birdie his next three holes as well. Hardy added another birdie on the 14th hole to negate a bogey on No. 13, and parred the final four holes. The junior carried his strong play into the second round, going birdie-eagle on the sixth and seventh holes to get to 4-under par before making the turn. He closed the second round at even par for a total tally of 6-under par on the day.
Junior Dylan Meyer closed the first day of play among the top-15 as well as he is currently tied for 11th. Meyer started the day at even par, tallying two birdies through the first round of play. Meyer remained at even par to start the second round, using an early birdie to negate a bogey on the sixth hole. He made the turn at 2-over par before carding an eagle on No. 11. A late birdie in the second round put Meyer at 1-under par for the day.
Sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli is tied for 24th individually with a score 4-over par through two rounds of play. Lipparelli carded five birdies on the day, including two on his last three holes.
Freshman Michael Feagles shot 6-over par through two rounds of play to tie for 37th individually, while freshman Bryan Baumgarten is currently 11-over par in a tie for 66th overall. The two combined for eight birdies on the day.
Playing as an individual, freshman Giovanni Tadiotto is currently 6-over par for the day and tied for 36th. Tadiotto posted eight birdies through two rounds of play.
The final round at the Louisiana Classics tees off at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow (Feb. 28). Live scoring will be available on Golfstat, and Live video will be available on the ninth hole. Illini tee times begin at 7:54 a.m.Â
The Illini are among 14 other teams in the 2017 Louisiana Classics field, including several teams ranked among the top-25 according to Golfweek. The No. 2-ranked Illini join No. 5 LSU, No. 22 Texas A&M, No. 23 Kent State, Louisiana, Toledo, UTSA, Texas State, Sam Houston State, Southern Miss, Saint Louis, Louisiana Tech, UT Arlington, UMKC and Southern Illinois on Oakbourne Country Club's 7,098-yard, Par 72 course.
Stay tuned to FightingIllini.com for the latest as Illinois continues play at the 32nd Annual Louisiana Classics.
