Final Results
LAFAYETTE, La. – Fighting Illini men's golf closed play at the 32nd Annual Louisiana Classics on Tuesday, placing four individuals among the top-25. As a team, Illinois shot 9-over par to close the tournament in fourth overall. Juniors Nick Hardy and Dylan Meyer led the way for Illinois, as Hardy closed the tournament at 3-under par to earn his first top-10 finish of the spring and Meyer shot 1-over par for a 10th place individual finish. Kent State (-21) took home the tournament trophy, while Texas A&M (-2) and LSU (-1) also placed among the top three teams.
"This was not an inspiring effort," head coach Mike Small said. "We pride ourselves in closing off tournaments better than this, but today the course and conditions got the better of us."
Battling windy conditions, Hardy started the day strong for the Illini, carding a birdie on his first hole for the third consecutive round. He added another birdie on the front nine, but made the turn at 1-over par. A couple bogeys on the back nine put Hardy at 3-over par for the day. He closed the tournament with a 3-under par 213.
Meyer carded two birdies for the Illini on the front nine on Tuesday morning as well, also making the turn at 1-over par. Meyer used a birdie on the 15th hole to negate a bogey early on the back nine as he shot 2-over par for the round. Meyer closed the tournament with a total score 1-over par.
Freshman Michael Feagles shot 1-over par on Tuesday for a total score of 7-over par. Feagles shot 1-over par on the front nine, posting a birdie on the ninth hole. He carded three birdies on the back nine to negate three late bogeys as well. Feagles finished in a tie for 21st individually.
Sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli tied for 24th overall, finishing the tournament at 8-over par. Lipparelli shot 4-over par through the final round, adding one birdie on the front nine. Freshman Bryan Baumgarten shot 3-over par through the final round for a total tally 14-over. He tied for 51st individually, posting three birdies on the final day of play.
Playing as an individual, freshman Giovanni Tadiotto tied for 35th individually. He shot 10-over par through three rounds of play, carding a final-round score of 4-over par.
The Illini joined 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 saw 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.
Next up, Illinois will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, March 6-8. Â Stay tuned to FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illinois men's golf.
