Final Results
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – Fighting Illini men's golf closed play at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate on Sunday, posting a team tally 1-over par to tie for ninth overall. The Illini finished 9-under par through 54-holes, tied with Minnesota. Three Illini earned spots among the top 25 individuals, led by freshman Jerry Ji who shot 6-under par in total to tie for 15th. Seniors Michael Feagles and Bryan Baumgarten tied for 24th with total scores 3-under par.
Arizona State (-38)Â finished atop the leaderboard for the tournament, and was joined among the top three teams by Arizona (-31) and Clemson (-29).Â
Closing play at 6-under par in total, Ji added an eagle and a birdie to Illinois' tally on Sunday afternoon. He shot 3-over par for the final round, and earned the first top-15 finish of his career.
Baumgarten was hot to start on Sunday, beginning his round with three-straight birdies. He was 5-under par through nine holes as he made two more birdies before the turn. Baumgarten shot even par on his back nine, using back-to-back birdies to negate two bogeys on the day.
Feagles also started strong for Illinois, carding birdies on two of his first four holes. He was at even par at the turn, and used a stretch of four consecutive birdies to negate early bogeys on the day. Feagles shot 1-under par on Sunday for a total tally 3-under par.
Junior Brendan O'Reilly shot 4-over par on Sunday for a total score 5-over par. He tied for 57th overall. Junior Varun Chopra closed play in a tie for 64th at 9-over par in total.
In the Mea Lanakila Individual, which was held concurrently at Desert Forest Golf Club (7,100-yard, Par 72), sophomore Tommy Kuhl led the Orange and Blue as he finished the tournament 2-under par and in sixth overall. He was joined among the top 15 individuals by sophomore Noah Gillard who shot 6-over par to tie for 15th. Sophomore Adrien Dumont de Chassart and senior Giovanni Tadiotto tied for 21st individually with total scores 10-over par, and sophomore Luke Armbrust tied for 25th at 13-over.
THE TOURNAMENT
Hosted by Georgia State University, the Maui Jim Intercollegiate is a three-day, 54-hole tournament which was played at Mirabel Golf Club September 13-15. Teams played 18 holes each day on the 7,081-yard, Par 72 course at Mirabel Golf Club.
The 19th-ranked Illini were joined by 14 other teams in the tournament field, including several teams ranked among the top 25 in the Bushnell Golfweek Preseason poll. Of the 15 teams competing this weekend, 11 qualified for 2019 NCAA Regional play, while six advanced to the 2019 NCAA Men's Golf Championships. The field includes No. 2 Arizona State, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 11 Southern California, No. 15 LSU, No. 17 Clemson, No. 19 Illinois, RV Florida State, RV NC State, Arizona, Augusta, Colorado, Georgia State, Kent State, Minnesota and Utah.
NEXT UP
The Illini will return to Illinois to host the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational next weekend. Held on the prestigious North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club (Olympia Fields, Illinois), the three-day, 54-hole tournament is set for September 20-22. Â
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