Final Results | Photo Gallery
OLYMPIA FIELDS – Fighting Illini men's golf closed play at the 2018 OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational on Sunday, posting a team score 11-over par. Three Illini earned finishes among the top 20, led by sophomore Brendan O'Reilly and junior Giovanni Tadiotto. Junior Michael Feagles also finished among the top-20, leading the Illini with a 1-under par final round tally. The Illini closed the tournament 22-over par in total to finish in sixth overall.
Oklahoma State took the tournament title with a total score 11-under par. USC (+7) and California (+16) also earned team finishes among the top three. Individually, Oklahoma State's Matthew Wolff took home medalist honors with a total score 6-under par.
"It was a successful tournament," head coach Mike Small said. "Oklahoma State deserved to win, they played great. On our side, I saw a lot of positive things that lead me to believe this team will make some improvements this year. We reverted back to some things that we're not used to doing; things that good programs cannot do, and we will address those in the coming weeks."
A three-day, 54-hole event, the 2018 OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational was held on the 7,353-yard, Par 70 North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club and welcomed a field of the nation's top teams. In addition to the No. 16-ranked Illini, the tournament field featured several teams ranked among the top 25 in the Preseason Bushnell Golfweek Coaches poll including No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. T-11 California, No. T-11 Stanford, No. 14 Baylor, No. 20 Southern California, No. 23 UNLV, No. 25 Florida State, RV Purdue, RV South Carolina, Air Force and Indiana.
"We want to thank Olympia Fields for running one of the best events in college golf," Small said. "The golf course is fantastic, the membership is great, and for that we are very thankful."
Feagles paced Illinois on Sunday, starting his round with an early birdie. He made the turn at 1-over par, but used two birdies and a bogey-free back nine to close the day 1-under par. He finished the tournament 5-over par and tied for 20th overall.
Tadiotto and O'Reilly closed tournament play with total scores 4-over par to tie for 16th individually. Â Tadiotto shot 3-over par on Sunday, recording three consecutive birdies in his last four holes to negate early bogeys in the round. O'Reilly shot 4-over par on Sunday adding three birdies to Illinois' tally.
Junior Bryan Baumgarten tied for 31st individually on Sunday, posting a total score 9-over par. Baugmarten shot 5-over par on Sunday.
Sophomore Varun Chopra closed Sunday's round 7-over par, and carded a birdie on the 18th hole. He shot 20-over for the tournament.
Playing as individuals, Illini freshmen Tommy Kuhl, Luke Armbrust and Adrien Dumont de Chassart made their first collegiate tournament appearances this weekend. Kuhl shot 4-over par on Sunday for a total score 11-over par. Kuhl tied for 42nd overall. Armbrust closed Sunday's round 4-over par as well, tallying a 16-over par total score. Dumont de Chassart shot 22-over par through three rounds of play, he was 3-over par on Sunday and carded three birdies in the round.
NEXT UP
Illinois will head out for the Macdonald Cup September 29 and 30. Hosted by Yale, the two-day tournament will take place at Yale Golf Course in New Haven, Connecticut.
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