SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – The first round of play at the 2017 NCAA Men's Golf Championship was suspended for darkness on Friday evening after a three-hour weather delay in play during the afternoon. Illinois is currently 3-under par as a team and in a tie for fifth on the leaderboard through 10-14 holes. Play will resume tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. CT, with second round tee times beginning at 7:15 a.m. The Illini are slated to begin the second round at 8:10 a.m.
"It was building for a great day, we had a lot of fans out here and the weather was perfect," head coach Mike Small said. "Then the rain came and the golf course changed. We had a little hiccup in the middle, but we righted the ship there at the end and we had some guys really finish well. All-in-all, I thought we played pretty strong considering the weather we had coming in."
Despite the heavy rains during Friday's round, freshman Michael Feagles got off to a hot start on Friday. Feagles birdied two of his first four holes, and used consecutive birdies on the 15th and 16th holes to negate two bogeys on his front nine. After making the turn, Feagles made eagle on the Par 5, second hole and added another birdie on No. 4. He is tied for third individually with a score 4-under par through 14 holes.
Junior Dylan Meyer and sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli closed the day at even par in a tie for 41st. Lipparelli closed the day with a birdie on the second hole and will resume play on No. 3 in the morning. Meyer is through 12 holes.
Junior Nick Hardy is 1-over par through 10 holes, while freshman Giovanni Tadiotto is 3-over par through 13 holes and carded back-to-back birdies on two of his last three holes.
"I thought they did a great job today," Small said of the Orange and Blue. "They were a little bit nervous and excited, but it was a good nervous. They come out like that as a young team, a couple of these guys haven't played in a national championship before and one of them is 4-under, I'm thrilled with that. But as a coach, looking at their presence and how they were going about their business, I was very happy."
The 2017 NCAA Men's Golf Championships are being held at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois. The Illini are among 30 other teams taking on the Par 72, 7,300-yard course. Vanderbilt (-8) currently sits atop the leaderboard, while Auburn (-2), Oklahoma State (-5) and USC (-4) are among the top four teams. Live scoring for the tournament is available on Golfstat and a recap will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each round of play. Fans interested in purchasing tickets can click here.
"I thought it was great to see a lot of Orange and Blue out here," Small said of the crowd at Rich Harvest Farms on Friday. "There were a lot of excited people and a lot of friends we haven't seen in a while. It was great, I'm excited for the weekend."
