PALM COAST, Fla. – Fighting Illini men's golf opened play at the Big Ten Match Play Championship on Friday, facing both Wisconsin and Nebraska. Illinois is 1-1 through two matches, earning a tiebreaker victory over Nebraska after falling to Wisconsin, 3.5-2.5.
The Illini will take on No. 2-seeded Northwestern tomorrow, beginning at 7 a.m. CT. At the conclusion of the three matches, teams will be ranked 1-7, within their division, using a tiebreaker when necessary to determine this rank. Teams will then play a final match against the team that has the same ranking in the opposite division on Saturday afternoon (12:30 p.m. CT).
"The head-to-head format of match play is great to evaluate where our teams are at mentally and physically," head coach Mike Small said. "The way we played today in our matches was not representative of the standard of Illinois golf. Today's results are beneficial for us so that we can improve upon those areas in the upcoming matches and this spring."
Match 1: Illinois 2.5, Wisconsin 3.5
Illini seniors Nick Hardy and Dylan Meyer led the way for the Orange and Blue, each earning an individual victory to start off tournament play. Meyer snagged a 5 and 4 win over Wisconsin's Griffin Barela to give Illinois its first point, while Hardy topped Jordan Hahn, 3 and 1. Sophomore Bryan Baumgarten halved his match against Sam Anderson, while the Badgers' Pete Kuhl and Nick Robinson earned 1-up victories over sophomores Giovanni Tadiotto and Michael Feagles. Freshman Brendan O'Reilly fell to Eddie Wajda, 3 and 2.
Match 2: Illinois 3, Nebraska 3
Baumgarten came out on fire in the second match of the day, winning seven consecutive holes over Nebraska's Daniel Pearson on his way to a 7 and 6 individual victory. Meyer continued his strong play in the second match as well, earning a 3 and 1 win over Jackson Wendling. After a back-and-forth start to the round, Meyer won two consecutive holes on the back nine to pull into his first lead of the day and never looked back. Feagles also earned a win for the Illini as he overcame Nebraska's Tanner Owen, 3 and 2. Nebraska took the other three individual matches for a 3-3 total score, but after a tiebreak procedure tallying total holes won by each team, the Illini earned the final victory.
The Course
The 14 Big Ten institutions are competing at Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Florida, this weekend. Hammock Beach Resort features two courses, the Ocean Course (Par 72, 7,201 yards) and the Conservatory Course (Par 72, 7,776 yards).
Follow Live
Live scoring can be found on Blue Golf, and a recap will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play. The event will also air on the Big Ten Network March 3 at 3:30 p.m. CT. Fans can also follow along with @IlliniMGolf on Twitter for live updates.
