LAFAYETTE, La. – Fighting Illini men's golf opened play at the 33rd Annual Louisiana Classics on Monday. The Orange and Blue are in second overall with a team total 14-under par through 36 holes of play, and four Illini sit among the top-15 individuals. Sophomore Bryan Baumgarten (-5) leads Illinois and is tied for fourth individually. He is joined among the top-10 by senior Nick Hardy (-4) and sophomore Michael Feagles (-3).
Texas A&M is currently atop the tournament field with a team score 21-under par. The Illini are joined by Kent State (-13) among the top three teams, while McNeese State (-10) and Sam Houston State (-4) round out the top five.
Baumgarten opened play with a 1-under par first-round tally on Monday. He negated two early bogeys with birdies on the front nine, before shooting even par on the back nine. Baumgarten birdied his 17th hole and continued to pick up momentum heading into the second round of play. The sophomore added three more birdies in his next seven holes and closed the second round with five birdies overall. His second-round 68 marks a season-low score.
Hardy paced the Orange and Blue early on as he was 4-under par through his first 12 holes of the day. A late bogey put him at 3-under par heading into the second round, where he continued his steady play. Hardy shot even par on the front nine of his second round before carding back-to-back birdies after making the turn. He is currently 4-under par through two rounds and tied for eighth individually.
After a double-bogey to start the tournament, Feagles quickly began to build momentum. He used two birdies on the front nine to make the turn at even par, and continued to make three birdies on the back nine. Feagles was 2-under par heading into the second round of play. He added another three birdies in his second round for a total score 3-under par. Feagles is tied for 10th individually.
Sophomore Giovanni Tadiotto is tied for 15th through two rounds of play, closing the day with a 2-under par total score. Tadiotto started the tournament at 4-over par before making the turn in the first round of the day. Tadiotto carded four birdies in six holes on the back nine to move back to even par, and closed his first round with a birdie for good measure. He continued his strong play into the second round with a birdie on his first hole and recorded three-straight birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes, which helped to negate his three bogeys in the round.
Senior Dylan Meyer shot 2-over par through two rounds of play to sit in a tie for 43rd overall. He shot even par through the first 18 holes, but late bogeys in the second round put him 2-over par for the day. Â Playing as an individual, freshman Brendan O'Reilly is 3-over par heading into tomorrow's final round. He is tied for 55th overall.
THE TOURNAMENT
Hosted by the University of Louisiana, the two-day, 54-hole tournament will continue at Oakbourne Country Club (Par 72, 6866-yards) tomorrow. Final round tee times are set to begin at 7:30 a.m. Illinois tee times begin with O'Reilly at 7:38 a.m. and continue with Meyer at 8:50 a.m.
The No. 11 Illini are joined by 14 other teams in the field at the Louisiana Classics including: No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 26 Louisville, No. 28 Kent State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Southern Miss, Sam Houston State, Rice, UMKC, Toledo, ULM, McNeese, Mississippi State, Texas State and UTSA.Â
FOLLOW ALONG
Live scoring for the Louisiana Classics can be found on Golfstat, and a recap will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play. The event will be live streamed at RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow along with @IlliniMGolf on Twitter for live updates
