Final Results
CINCINNATI, Fighting Illini men's golf posted its second top-five finish of the season on Tuesday, with a 14-under par, fifth place finish at the Bearcat Invitational. Three Illini finished among the top 20 individuals, led by senior Nick Hardy (-8) who tied for sixth overall. Sophomore Michael Feagles (-4) and senior Dylan Meyer (-3) were also among Illinois leaders. Kentucky took the event title with a 32-under par total score, while Arkansas (-26) and Mississippi State (-17) round out the top three teams.
"We were very loose with our shots on the golf course today, we didn't play disciplined golf," Illini assistant coach Zach Barlow said. "At times during the tournament we played from strength, but we need to focus on finishing each round better than we did this week. Nick {Hardy} got us off to a great start and played well in the first round and Michael Feagles showed some consistency. Giovanni {Tadiotto} also closed the tournament with a strong round. We will take this back to Champaign and work on getting back to playing Illinois golf."
Sophomore Giovanni Tadiotto led Illinois on Tuesday with a 3-under par final round. He posted back-to-back birdies to start the day, and carded an eagle on the eighth hole. He added two more birdies on his back nine to negate late bogeys. Tadiotto tied for 26th individually, closing the tournament at 1-over par.
Hardy posted three early birdies on Tuesday morning and closed the tournament with a final round score at even par. Feagles tallied two birdies on the day, and finished the final round at 1-over par. He was 4-under par for the tournament.
Senior Dylan Meyer shot 3-under par for the tournament, with a final round score at even par. He posted two birdies on Tuesday, negating two late bogeys in the round.
Freshman Brendan O'Reilly shot 2-under par on Tuesday for a total tally 17-over, while sophomore Bryan Baumgarten closed the tournament at 16-over par.
The Bearcat Invitational was held on the Par 71, 7,111-yard course at Coldstream Country Club, and featured a field of 12 teams including Akron, Arkansas, Cincinnati, College of Charleston, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ohio State and Xavier.
Next up, the Orange and Blue will have a short break before traveling to Carmel, Indiana, for the Crooked Stick Intercollegiate on October 16. Stay tuned to FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illinois men's golf.
