CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois men's golf team, No. 18 nationally in the NCAA Division I golf rankings and 17th in the latest GCAA Coaches Top-25, returns home to host the second-annual Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate, this Saturday and Sunday, in the team's final regular-season tournament leading up to the 2024 postseason.
THE SETTING
The Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate is hosted at the program's championship-caliber Atkins Golf Club at the University of Illinois (par 71, 7,503 yards). The event is one of two tournaments hosted by the Illini – along with the prestigious OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational hosted each fall at storied Olympia Fields Country Club – allowing the team to compete in front of the best fans in collegiate golf right here in Urbana-Champaign.
After the course was gifted by the Atkins Family to the University of Illinois and the Illinois Foundation, Fighting Illini Athletics partnered with architect Drew Rogers to enhance the already strong golf course by rebuilding all greens, relocating many and rebuilding all bunkers using the Better Billy Bunker system, and adding length to allow the team to stretch the course to more than 7500 yards. The renovation has resulted in a championship venue that is capable of providing a fair and challenging experience for the nation's top collegiate players.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The 54-hole tournament will be a five-count-four format played over two days, with 36 holes of continuous play set for Saturday, followed by Sunday's final round. Each day will begin with tee times off Nos. 1 and 10, starting at 7:30 a.m. CT on Saturday and 8 a.m. CT Sunday.
THE FIELD
The Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate field includes 12 programs vying for the title. Challenging the No. 18-ranked Fighting Illini is a group of three Big Ten contenders, all back for their second year at the event, in No. 39 Northwestern, No. 81 Michigan State, and No. 89 Michigan. Toledo (94) is the fifth top-100 program that will compete in the field, along with Ball State (104), Marquette (109), UC San Diego (165), Butler (175), South Dakota (226), DePaul (234), and Loyola Chicago (235).
FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP
No. 1: Jackson Buchanan
No. 2: Ryan Voois
No. 3: Max Herendeen
No. 4: Tyler Goecke
No. 5: Ethan Wilson
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Individual: Timmy Crawford
Individual: Piercen Hunt
Individual: Jerry Ji
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring for the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate will be available on Golfstat. A Recap and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play.
ILLINI AT THE FIGHTING ILLINI SPRING COLLEGIATE
The 2024 Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate is marks the second-annual playing of the event. The Illini claimed the team title at the inaugural tournament in 2023 behind a medalist performance from Adrien Dumont de Chassart in his final regular-season tourney before turning pro at the conclusion of the season.
Four members of the Illini program are back for their second playing of the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate. Piercen Hunt finished third last year with a 54-hole score of 214 (+1), and Jackson Buchanan just missed a top-10 finish by one stroke with a 219 (+6) to tie for 11th. Ryan Voois shot a 223 (+10) and Jerry Ji carded a 224 (+11) to tie for 19th and 21st, respectively.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini tee off April 26-28 at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, for the 2024 Big Ten Men's Golf Championship. The Orange and Blue are in search of their ninth-consecutive conference title, their 14th in the last 15 league championships dating back to the 2008-09 season, and the 21st in program history.
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