Final Results
LAFAYETTE, Louisiana – Fighting Illini men's golf finished in second as a team at the 34th annual Louisiana Classics on Tuesday afternoon. Five Illini placed among the top 20 individuals, led by junior Bryan Baumgarten's second-place finish. He used a 5-under par 67 in Tuesday's round to finish the tournament at 4-under par in total. Freshman Tommy Kuhl and junior Michael Feagles also earned top-10 finishes on Thursday, finishing with scores at even par and 1-over par, respectively. As a team, Illinois shot 3-under par on Tuesday round to close play at 6-over par through 54 holes. The Illini have now finished among the top two teams in eight of 12 appearances at the Louisiana Classics.
McNeese earned the tournament title with a total tally 1-under par, while UTSA joined the Illini among the top three with a total tally 15-over par.
Baumgarten was a strong competitor for the 25th-ranked Illini in Tuesday's final round. After starting his day with a bogey on his first hole, the junior responded by carding four birdies in a span of six holes. He negated two late bogeys on the back nine with three additional birdies, and finished with a birdie on his final hole as well. Also among the top 10 individuals, Feagles closed play with a 1-over par tally on Thursday and also for the tournament. He carded three birdies in his final round to take eighth overall.
Junior Giovanni Tadiotto tied for 13th with a total score 3-over par. Tadiotto shot 1-over par on Tuesday, using three birdies to negate bogeys in the middle of his round.
Sophomore Brendan O'Reilly tied for 31st overall with a score 7-over par through three rounds. He shot even par on Tuesday, carding two birdies for the day. Freshman Adrien Dumont de Chassart closed play one stroke behind O'Reilly after a 2-over par final round score. Dumont de Chassart started his day with consecutive birdies on his first two holes, which helped to negate bogeys later in the round. He added another birdie on the first hole for the Illini.
Playing as an individual, Kuhl finished the tournament at even par to tie for sixth. He was 2-over par through the final round and played the front nine bogey-free on Tuesday. Freshman Noah Gillard joined Kuhl among the top 20 as he tied for 18th in the tournament. Gillard shot even par in the final round for a total score 5-over. Sophomore Varun Chopra was 1-over par on the day for a total score 6-over par. He tied for 26th individually.
Also playing as an individual, freshman Luke Armbrust finished the tournament strong with a bogey-free final round. He recorded four birdies to finish the day 4-under par and bring his total tally to 8-over for the tournament.
THE TOURNAMENT
The Louisiana Classics was held on the 6,866-yard, Par 72 course at Oakbourne Country Club.The 25th-ranked Illini were joined by 14 other teams in the field at the Louisiana Classics, including Louisiana, Kent State, Louisiana Tech, McNeese, UMKC, North Texas, Oral Roberts, Rice, Sam Houston State, Southern Miss, Texas State, Toledo, UTSA and Wichita State.
NEXT UP
Illinois is set to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for the Southern Highlands Collegiate March 3-5. One of the top collegiate tournaments, Southern Highlands traditionally welcomes the nation's best to the Par 72, 7,510-yard course at Southern Highlands Golf Club.
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