URBANA, ill. – The No. 3-ranked Illinois men's golf team pulled away Sunday for a convincing win in the inaugural Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate. The first event at the program's newly renovated home course at Atkins Golf Club was highlighted by a breakthrough individual victory by fifth-year senior Adrien Dumont de Chassart.

Despite windy conditions that carried over from Day 1, both Dumont de Chassart and the Illini as a team, continued to overcome the adversity to post the lowest scores of the round and extend their 36-hole leads for the title sweep.

"We always talk about wanting to hit our standard," head coach Mike Small following the team's 26-stroke victory. "We want to hit our standard as often as we can and get our standard to where it is good enough to win and not have to try to peak … We're just trying to get better every day as a team, and individually, establish a standard and hit it every day. At some points in this tournament, we didn't hit the standard, that's when we had to recalibrate. We want to hit that standard more consistently."  

Dumont de Chassart's win marked the fourth of his college career, but was a breakout of sorts for the fifth-year senior who had posted four runner-up finishes since his last victory at the Boilermaker Invitational in April of 2022.

"He's been around the lead all year for a couple of years," Small said in reference to Dumont de Chassart's string of consistency that has produced six top-5s in 12 events since his win in West Lafayette. "It's good to see him learn and figure it out, and punch the right buttons, and get it around and make some great saves so that he could win. He'll be around the lead the rest of the year too."  

Dumont de Chassart was one of just two golfers to shoot under par on the weekend, closing with a 3-under 68 to post a 54-hole tally of 206 (-7) and edge out Northwestern's Daniel Svard by two strokes.

Behind Dumont de Chassart, the rest of the Illini's scoring lineup moved up the leaderboard in Round 3 to finish inside the top 11 of the 66-player field, a positive trend as the team now turns its focus to the postseason beginning next week with the Big Ten Championship. 

Junior Piercen Hunt posted his best finish (third place) since winning the Isleworth Collegiate in October of 2021 with a three-round total of 214 (+1). Fifth-year senior Tommy Kuhl carded a 216 (+3) for a solo fifth, his sixth top-five finish of the season. Fifth-year senior Matthis Besard moved up three spots into a tie for sixth with a 217 (+4), and sophomore Jackson Buchanan jumped seven competitors to tie for 11^th at 219 (+6).

"I think this gives us some good momentum (heading into the postseason)" added Dumont de Chassart. "It's nice, because the weather (at the Big Ten Championship) is going to be similar, so we kind of know what to work on for next week. Some guys didn't hit the ball as well as they wanted, and even myself, I didn't think I drove it very well. Obviously the course here is more forgiving, but I have things that I want to work on for next week. And if we all do that, we'll have a good chance at winning."

Illinois' team score of 850 (-2) was 26 strokes ahead of second-place finisher Northwestern (876). Michigan State (885), Loyola Marymount (887), and Ball State (889) rounded out the top five of the team standings, followed by Nebraska (890), Indiana (892), Eastern Michigan (912) and Michigan (922).

Three other Illini competed as individuals in the event. Freshman Ryan Voois shot a 223 (+10) for a season-best finish (T19). Senior Jerry Ji finished one stroke behind Voois in a tie for 21^st, while classmate Nico Lang tied for 57^th at 235 (+22).

UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini tee off April 28-30 at Galloway National Golf Club in Galloway, N.J., for the 2023 Big Ten Men's Golf Championship. The Orange and Blue are in search of their eighth consecutive conference title, their 13th in the last 14 league championships dating back to the 2008-09 season, and the 20^th in program history.

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