AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Illinois men's golf team, No. 6 nationally in the latest Golfstat team rankings, returns to action this weekend, traveling to Augusta, Ga., to compete in the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational. The event is hosted by Augusta University at Forest Hills Golf Club – just miles from Augusta National Golf Club – and takes place April 1-2, concluding on the eve of Masters week.
THE SETTING
The Augusta Haskins Award Invitational is hosted at the Jaguars' home course, Forest Hills Golf Club, which features a par-72, 7,086-yard layout. The 18-hole course, rich in college golf history, was originally designed by world renowned course architect Donald Ross, and was renovated by the Arnold Palmer Company in 2004. Forest Hills is repeatedly named "Best Public Course" by Augusta Magazine and offers traditional Southern topography with level, rolling fairways surrounded by magnificent trees.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The 54-hole tournament will be a five-count-four format played over two days, with 36 holes slated for Saturday, followed by Sunday's final round. Saturday begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. CT. Sunday's finale starts with tee times starting at 8:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. CT.
THE FIELD
The Augusta Haskins Award Invitational features a 15-team field highlighted by some of the premier golf programs in the nation. The Illini, No. 6 in the latest Golfstat team ratings, are one of eight top-50 teams in the field, along with Texas (9), Florida (12), Oklahoma State (18), Georgia Southern (19), Virginia (22), East Tennessee State (38) and Notre Dame (47). South Carolina (57) and Central Florida (77) rank inside the top 80. Virginia Tech (123), host August (135), Charleston (148), Kennesaw State (176), and Air Force (263) complete the field.
FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP
No. 1: Matthis Besard
No. 2: Adrien Dumont de Chassart
No. 3: Tommy Kuhl
No. 4: Jackson Buchanan
No. 5: Ryan Voois
ILLINI AT THE AUGUSTA HASKINS AWARD INVITATIONAL
The Fighting Illini have competed in each of the last 12 Augusta Haskins Award Invitational events dating back to 2010. The Orange and Blue have notched two team wins - in 2016 and 2018 - plus a runner-up finish in 2015. Former Illini Dylan Meyer captured medalist honors at the event in both 2017 and 2018.
Adrien Dumont de Chassart will compete in the event for the fourth time in his Illini career. As a freshman in 2019, he matched former teammate Michael Feagles as the Illini's top finisher in a tie for 24th. In 2021, Dumont de Chassart tied for 18th with a 3-under 213, and in 2022, he tied for 16th with a 214 (-2). Tommy Kuhl tied for 43rd with a 219 (+3) in his first time at the event in 2021. Last season, Kuhl led the Illini to a third place team finish as he finished tied for sixth with a then 54-hole personal-best of 207 (-9), including a career low 65 (-7) in Round 2. Sophomore Jackson Buchanan is the only other Illini in the lineup to have played in the event, notching a top-25 with a score of 217 (+1) as a freshman last season.
Fifth-year senior Matthis Besard, and true freshman Ryan Voois will also compete in the event for the first time as Illini. Voois is making his debut in the Illinois scoring lineup after previously teeing off as an individual competitor at the Hal Williams Collegiate in mid-February and the N.I.T. in mid-March.
PGA TOUR EXEMPTION
The individual champion at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational will earn an exemption into the 2024 PGA TOUR Valspar Championship, March 18-24, at Innisbrook's Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla.
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring for the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational will be available on GolfStat.com. A recap and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of competition.
UP NEXT
Following play in Augusta, the Orange and Blue travel to Columbia, Mo., to compete in the Tiger Collegiate Invitational hosted by Missouri at the Club at Old Hawthorne. It marks the Illini's penultimate regular-season tourney before returning home to close out that portion of the schedule at the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate.
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