NORMAN, Okla. – Five Fighting Illini men's golfers were honored by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) on Saturday (May 27) when Matthis Besard, Jackson Buchanan, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Piercen Hunt, and Tommy Kuhl were selected to the 2023 Division I PING All-Midwest Region team. The announcement was made just after the team teed off in Round 2 of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The honor is the fourth all-region selection for Dumont de Chassart. Kuhl and Hunt each earn their second consecutive selections, as does Besard who was an All-Midwest Region performer in 2022 at Southern Illinois before joining the Illini program as a graduate transfer. Buchan earns the first all-region nod of his Illini career.

This marks the 15th consecutive season that the Illini have had multiple honorees on the all-region list. Five selections ties a school record set in 2009 and matched in 2015, marking the third time in the Mike Small era that the Orange and Blue placed five golfers on the list.

Besard, a fifth-year senior in his second year with the Illini after four seasons at Southern Illinois, earns his second straight All-Midwest Region selection. He has played in all 12 tournaments for the Illini and this postseason has tied for third place (bronze medalist) at the Big Ten Championship, followed by a tie for eight at the NCAA Bath Regional. On the season, he has tallied eight top-25 finishes, and closed as the Illini's top finisher twice, at the National Invitational Tournament and the Big Ten Championship. He ranks tied for third on the team with a stroke average of 71.40, has carded 20 of 35 rounds at par or better on the season, and has notched nine rounds in the 60s, including a season-low 66 (-6) in the final round of the Tiger Collegiate Invitational.  

Buchanan, a unanimous All-Big Ten first-team selection, takes also takes home his first all-region award in 2023. The sophomore, the Dacula, Ga., picked up right where he left off last year, playing in all 12 events for the Illini and ranking third on the team with a stroke average of 71.20, almost two full strokes better than his previous season-best of 72.84 set as a freshman. He has recorded nine top-25 finishes with four top 5s, including his first-career victory at the Tiger Collegiate Invitational (April 10-11) in which he shot 66-62-66 to set a program-record score of 194 (-22). His Round 2 score of 62 (-10) also broke the program record for a single round score, and the Illini closed the event with the program-record for a 54-hole team tally. Buchanan ranks tied for third on the team with 20 of 35 rounds at par or better, while carding 11 rounds in the 60s.

Dumont de Chassart, a fifth-year senior, is the three-time Big Ten Golfer of the Year and was selected as a  unanimous first-team All-Big Ten honoree for the second straight year in 2023. This postseason, he earned his fourth All-Big Ten Championship Team selection with a tie for fifth to help lead the Illini to their eighth consecutive Big Ten title at Galloway (N.J.) National Golf Club and tied for second to lead the Illini to through the NCAA Bath Regional and into the NCAA Championship. A native of Villers la Ville, Belgium, Dumont de Chassart was presented with his second straight Les Bolstad Award as the Big Ten golfer with the league's best stroke average through the conference championship; His average of 69.63 was the lowest mark on record since the Bolstad Award's inception in 1974, and it has now dipped to 69.54, on pace to break his own program record mark established last season. Dumont de Chassart captured his fourth collegiate victory this season at the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate, and help the Illini post a nation-leading seven team tournament wins overall.  He has notched top-16 finishes all 12 events on the year, including four runner-up finishes. He closed as Illinois top finisher in a team-leading six tournaments, and is tied for the team lead with 27 (out of 35) rounds at par or better.

Hunt's secures his second all-region nod and is coming off of a second-team All-Big Ten season, also the second of his career. The junior from Hartland, Wis., ranks fifth on the team with a season stroke average of 71.97 over 33 rounds after competing in 11 of 12 events through the NCAA Bath Regional where he posted a top-20 finish (T18). He has recorded top-15 finishes in five tournaments, including a tie for 13^th at the Big Ten Championship. Hunt also posted a pair of top 5s at the Tiger Collegiate Invitational (5^th) and the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate (3^rd). He shot a career-low score of 64 (-8) in the second round of the Tiger Collegiate, helping the Illini to a school-record for a 54-hole team score, and finished with a tournament score of 202 (-14), a personal best for a 54-hole collegiate event. On the season, he has posted 17 of his 33 rounds at par or better.

Kuhl, in addition to back-to-back all-region nods, has won two straight first-team All-Big Ten honors including a unanimous selection in 2023. The fifth-year senior from Morton, Ill., has continued to build off of his stellar 2021-22 season, to again ranks among the nation's top performers. He is second on the team with a season stroke average of 70.17, nearly two strokes ahead of his previous season-best (71.85) set last season. Kuhl placed as the Illini's top finisher in five events this season, the second-most on the team behind Dumont de Chassart. Entering the NCAA Championship, he has 12 consecutive top-16 finishes, including seven top-5s. Kuhl, who has been selected to represent Team USA at the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup, shot a career-low-tying score of 65 (-6) in the final round of the Hal Williams Collegiate, to finish with a career-low 54-hole total of 203 (-10) and earn the best finish (T2nd) of his career as an Illini. He then matched his career-low in the second round of the 2023 Big Ten Championship at Galloway National Golf Club, en route to a tie for third (bronze medalist) and a spot on the All-Big Ten Championship team. He is coming off of a tie for eighth at the NCAA Bath Regional, and is tied for the team lead with 27 of 35 rounds at par or better. He ranks second with 11 rounds in the 60s.