Final Results
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Fighting Illini men's golf concluded the 2018-19 campaign on Sunday afternoon at the 2019 NCAA Men's Golf Championships. The Orange and Blue made their 12th consecutive NCAA Championships appearance this season, and the 14th under head coach Mike Small. Illinois tied for 27th as a team, posting a three-round score 51-over par. The Illini shot 15-over par in Sunday's final round, led by freshman Adrien Dumont de Chassart who closed the day at even par. Junior Michael Feagles led the Orange and Blue through the week, finishing at 8-over par and tied for 53rd.
"It was a disappointing week and the kids are pretty down right now," Small said. "We struggled from the very first hole on the first day, and we never could get things going in the right direction. That's disappointing because that's not the personality of Illini Golf. If you look at the big picture, though, we are a young team that made a lot of strides this spring. We expected more here this week, but with this type of experience, we will undoubtedly see the benefits from this next season."
After a 1-under par second round tally, Feagles continued his steady play into Sunday's round, as he maintained even par through his first five holes. He made the turn at 2-over par on Sunday, however, and used two birdies in the round to negate late bogeys in his day. He shot 5-over par on Sunday to close NCAA Championship play.
In his first NCAA Championships appearance, Dumont de Chassart used a strong final round to move up the leaderboard. He carded three birdies on Sunday to negate an early bogey and shoot even par. Dumont de Chassart was 13-over par through 54-holes.
Also making his first appearance in the national finals, freshman Tommy Kuhl closed NCAA Championship play at 16-over par in total. He recorded two birdies on Sunday and earned a third-round score 9-over par.
Junior Giovanni Tadiotto shot 4-over par on Sunday and finished the NCAA Championships at 19-over par, while sophomore Varun Chopra closed play at 20-over par in total.
As a team, the 24th-ranked Illini made their 12th consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships this season, after earning the title at the 2019 NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional to mark the fifth NCAA Regional title in school history. Illinois' 12 NCAA Championship appearances mark the longest active streak in the nation, second only to Texas (13). The squad earned its fifth consecutive Big Ten Championship title, and the 10th in the last 11 seasons. Winning his second individual title of his freshman season, Dumont de Chassart became Illinois' 21st Big Ten Championship medalist, while Feagles took individual medalist honors at the NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional. Feagles marks Illinois' fifth NCAA Regional medalist. UI finished among the top five in nine tournaments this season, taking home five event titles, also including the Madconald Cup and the Fighting Irish Classic.
"Usually this is a time of year where you thank the seniors and send them off, but we don't have any this year, which is a positive thing," Small said of the young Illini squad. "This team still has another year to grow, improve and address those areas we need to work on, and we're going to start on that as soon as possible."
The Illini will return all nine members of the squad next year in Luke Armbrust, Bryan Baumgarten, Varun Chopra, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Michael Feagles, Noah Gillard, Tommy Kuhl, Brendan O'Reilly and Giovanni Tadiotto. The program will also welcome freshman Jerry Ji (Hoofdorp, Netherlands).
THE TOURNAMENT
The 2019 NCAA Men's Golf Championships are taking place at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Blessings boasts a Par 72, 7,550-yard track, designed by architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr. in 2004, with a re-design recently completed by noted architect Kyle Phillips. The tournament format will feature four rounds of stroke play, with the field being narrowed to 15 teams after 54 holes are played. An individual champion will be determined following the final round of stroke play, and the top eight teams will advance to the match play portion of the championship. Match play quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on May 28, and the final match will take place on May 29.
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