LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The No. 5-ranked Fighting Illini men's golf team finished sixth at the Windon Memorial Classic on Monday at Conway Farms Golf Club behind three individual top-15 finishers, led by senior Jackson Buchanan's second top 10 of the season.
The Illini carded a 54-hole team score of 861 (+9) in the two-day event, completing the final few holes of Sunday night's second round on Monday morning before play continued into Round 3.
No. 13-ranked Arizona (-10) took home the team title, followed by Marquette (-7) in second. Host Northwestern (+2), Kansas (+6) and South Florida (+8) rounded out the top five ahead of the Illini. The Orange and Blue earned head-to-head team wins over 10 programs including No. 25-ranked Pepperdine, and three other teams – Notre Dame, Purdue, and Michigan State – receiving votes in the GCAA coaches poll.
Buchanan, who opened with a 70 (-1) in Round 1, struggled late in the day Sunday before closing out a 75 (+4) for Round 2 on Monday morning. The Dacula, Georgia, native responded with a strong finish, however, posting a 67 (-4) in the final round. It marked the fourth-lowest individual score of Round 3 and allowed Buchanan to climb 11 spots up the leaderboard for his team-leading second top-10 finish in three tournaments this fall, with a three-round score of 212 (-1).
Marquette's Patrick Adler ran away with medalist honors by five strokes over the rest of the field, carding an 11-under 202.
Sophomore Max Herendeen, whose Round 2 score of 66 (-5) marked a season-low for the Illini, finished two shots behind Buchanan at 214 (+1) to secure his 10th-career top-15 finish through his first 16 stroke play events as an Illini. Freshman Trey Marrion posted his second top-25 finish through the first three events of his collegiate career with a 54-hole tally of 218 (+5).
Sophomore Ethan Wilson and junior Ryan Voois rounded out the scoring for the Illini lineup in Round 3. Wilson carded a closing 73 (+2) and finished with an 8-over 221 in a tie for 41st, overall, while Voois tied for 64th with a 14-over 227, including his best individual round of the event with a closing 71 on Sunday afternoon.
Freshmen Jake Birdwell and Joseph Buttress also competed as individuals in the event. Birdwell shot a three-round score of 222 (+9) to tie for 46th, while Buttress finished 88th with a 54-hole score of 246 (+33).
UP NEXT
The Orange and Blue tee off at the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational, co-hosted by Southern Miss and Ole Miss at Fallen Oak at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino's Fallen Oak Course in Saucier, Mississippi, Oct. 19-21.
FOLLOW THE #ILLINI
For more Fighting Illini men's golf news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniMGolf on social media: X | Instagram | Facebook.
