NORMAN, Okla. – Fighting Illini fifth-year senior golfer Tommy Kuhl has been selected to compete in the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup as part of Team USA, it was announced Tuesday (April 25) on Golf Channel.
Kuhl will make his debut at the prestigious Ryder Cup-style event, which will be played June 8-10 at Laurel Valley Golf Club, located outside Ligonier, Pa. He will also be joined on Team USA by Crystal Wang of the Illini women's golf program.
A native of Morton, Ill., Kuhl is the seventh different Illini men's golfer to compete at the Palmer Cup, and gives the Orange and Blue a representative for the third straight year as classmate Adrien Dumont de Chassart competed for Team International in 2021 and 2022. Other Illini to compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup are: Nick Hardy (2017), Charlie Danielson (2016), Thomas Detry (2014 and 2015), Thomas Pieters (2012), and Scott Langley (2010).
Kuhl, ranked No. 11 nationally by Golfstat, is coming off a fifth-place finish this weekend to help lead the No. 3-ranked Illini to their sixth win of the season at the team's Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate. He is second on the team in stroke average (70.27) in 2022-23, while tying for the team lead by posting 23 of his 30 rounds at par or better.
Kuhl placed no worse than 16th in any of the Illini's 10 regular-season events, posting six top-5 finishes. His tie for second at the Hal Williams Collegiate in February marked his top individual finish as an Illini and included a career-low-tying score of 65 (-6) in the final round, and a career-low 54-hole tournament total of 203 ( -10).
Kuhl and the Illini begin their 2023 postseason run this week, teeing off Friday-Sunday 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 20th in program history.
2023 Arnold Palmer Cup Teams
Team United States
Amari Avery (Southern California)
Zoe Campos (UCLA)
David Ford (North Carolina)
Nick Gabrelcik (North Florida)
Austin Greaser (North Carolina)
Derek Hitchner (Pepperdine)
Ben James (Virginia)
Rachel Kuehn (Wake Forest)
Tommy Kuhl (Illinois)
Antonia Malate (San Jose State)
Ashley Menne (Arizona State)
Emilia Migliaccio (Wake Forest)
Olivia Mitchell (Dallas Baptist)
Maxwell Moldovan (Ohio State)
Ashleigh Park (Oregon)
Jennie Park (Texas A&M)
Alex Price (Christopher Newport)
Amanda Sambach (Virginia)
Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt)
Megan Schofill (Auburn)
Preston Summerhays (Arizona State)
Caleb Surratt (Tennessee)
Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford)
Crystal Wang (Illinois)
Team International
Carla Bernat (Tulane; Spain)
Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn (Iowa State; Thailand)
Santiago de la Fuente (Houston; Mexico)
Mats Ege (East Tennessee State; Norway)
Mateo Fernández de Oliveira (Arkansas; Argentina)
Ryan Griffin (Maynooth; Ireland)
Charlotte Heath (Florida State; England)
Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (Oklahoma State; Australia)
Max Kennedy (Louisville; Ireland)
Frederik Kjettrup (Florida State; Denmark)
Christo Lamprecht (Georgia Tech; South Africa)
Andrea Lignell (Ole Miss; Sweden)
Julia Lopez Ramirez (Mississippi State; Spain)
Christiaan Maas (Texas; South Africa)
Lorna McClymont (Stirling; Scotland)
Caley McGinty (Ohio State; England)
Herman Sekne (Purdue; Norway)
Tyran Snyders (Texas Tech; South Africa)
Chiara Tamburlini (Ole Miss; Switzerland)
Mirabel Ting (Augusta; Malaysia)
Karl Vilips (Stanford; Australia)
Lauren Walsh (Wake Forest; Ireland)
Lottie Woad (Florida State; England)
Sampson Zheng (California; China)
ABOUT THE ARNOLD PALMER CUP
The Arnold Palmer Cup was co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and began at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Fla., in 1997. The event is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men's and women's university/college golfers matching the United States against a team of International players. The Palmer Cup has been played at some of the world's greatest courses, including The Old Course at St. Andrews, The Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Baltusrol, The Honors Course, and Cherry Hills. Beginning with the 2018 matches at Evian Resort Golf Club, the Palmer Cup is the only major tournament which features men and women playing side-by-side as partners.
Since its inception, over 125 former Arnold Palmer Cup alumni have gone on to earn cards on the PGA, DP World, or LPGA Tours; 34 have represented Europe or the USA in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, or Solheim Cup and more than 75 have claimed over 315 victories on the PGA, DP World, or LPGA Tours, including 2022 major champions Jennifer Kupcho (The Chevron Championship) and Justin Thomas (PGA Championship). The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 13-12-1.
The Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation supports the Palmer Cup, which provides a platform for perpetuating Arnold Palmer's commitment to youth character development and the growth of amateur/collegiate golf. For more information, please visit ArnoldPalmerCup.com.
