Illini Men’s Golf Ranked Top-10 in Preseason Coaches Poll
August 27, 2021 | Golf, Men's Golf
NEWS
NORMAN, Okla. – The Fighting Illini men's golf program opens the 2021-22 season ranked No. 10 in the Bushnell/Golfweek Preseason Coaches Poll released Friday by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
The Illini are coming off of their sixth consecutive Big Ten Championship – and 11th of the last 12 overall – plus a top-five national finish after a quarterfinal appearance in the match play portion of the NCAA Championship last spring.
The team begins the 2021-22 schedule, Sept. 5-6 at Hoosier Collegiate Invitational. Following their trip to Bloomington, Ind., the Illini will make the short trek to Olympia Fields, Ill., to play host to one of the nation's premier events, the Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational, held on the famed North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club, Sept. 17-19.
The field at the 2021 OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational will once feature one of the most competitive lineups of the college golf schedule, with 10 of the 15 teams ranked in the preseason top-25 and two more receiving votes. In addition to the Illini, OFCC will host No. 1 Pepperdine, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Arizona State, No. 4 North Carolina, No. 5 Texas, No. 12 Florida State, No. 15 Stanford, No. 17 Florida, and No. 22 Arizona, plus Baylor and Alabama, both receiving top-25 votes. The remainder of the lineup includes Cal, Indiana and Purdue.
The Orange and Blue return six members of the team for 2021-22: Luke Armbrust, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Piercen Hunt, Jerry Ji, Tommy Kuhl and Nico Lang. The program also welcomes a trio of freshman standouts in Jackson Buchanan, TJ Barger, and Dylan Keating.
Bushnell/Golfweek Division I Coaches' Poll - Preseason
| Rank | University (First Place Votes) | Points | NCAA Finish |
| 1 | Pepperdine (14) | 502 | Champion |
| 2 | Oklahoma State (2) | 470 | Semifinals |
| 3 | Arizona State (2) | 445 | Semifinals |
| 4 | North Carolina | 423 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Texas (1) | 420 | 25 |
| 6 | Vanderbilt (1) | 414 | Quarterfinals |
| 7 | Oklahoma (1) | 392 | Runner-up |
| 8 | Wake Forest | 364 | T-13 |
| 9 | Texas Tech | 306 | T-11 |
| 10 | Illinois | 276 | Quarterfinals |
| 11 | Clemson | 268 | T-13 |
| 12 | Florida State | 260 | Quarterfinals |
| 13 | Tennessee | 249 | T-17 |
| 14 | Georgia | 228 | T-17 |
| 15 | Stanford | 223 | DNQ |
| 16 | Texas A&M | 200 | DNQ |
| T-17 | Florida | 177 | T-22 |
| T-17 | Georgia Tech | 177 | 15 |
| 19 | Arkansas | 156 | T-11 |
| 20 | Auburn | 130 | DNQ |
| 21 | SMU | 120 | T-17 |
| 22 | Arizona | 99 | DNQ |
| 23 | North Florida | 65 | DNQ |
| 24 | Notre Dame | 62 | DNQ |
| 25 | Liberty | 56 | T-21 |
| Dropped From Ranking: None | |||
| Others Receiving Votes: NC State, 54; Duke, 32; Washington, 30; San Diego State, 29; LSU, 27; Baylor 25; Sam Houston State, 25; Louisville, 22; Florida Gulf Coast, 22; Southern California, 17; TCU, 11; Alabama, 8; East Tennessee State, 8; San Francisco, 8; South Florida, 8; Ohio State, 7; Charlotte, 6; Michigan State, 2; New Mexico, 2. | |||
