URBANA, Ill. – Senior Jackson Buchanan carded a course-record round of 63 (-8) to lead the 14th-ranked Fighting Illini to a strong opening round at the NCAA Urbana Regional hosted by Illinois at Atkins Golf Club.
Buchanan bookended his round with birdies on No. 1 and No. 18, and was locked in throughout. The Dacula, Ga., native finished bogey-free while carding six additional birdies to build a four-stroke lead in the individual race - ahead of Troy's Jake Springer - and give the Orane and Blue a two-stroke margin in the team race.
Behind the Illini (-7), No. 23 Texas Tech (-5), No. 35 UNLV (-3), and Troy (-1) also posted under-par team scores on Day 1. No. 26 Long Beach State and No. 47 Marquette are tied for fifth at 1-over, one shot ahead of the region's top seed, No. 2 Oklahoma State, with 36 holes remaining in the hunt for five team berths in the 2025 NCAA Championship at La Costa (May 23-28).
Buchanan's 63 tied for the second-lowest individual score in program history, one shot off his overall program single-round mark set in his first-career victory as a sophomore at Missouri's Tiger Collegiate Invitational. It also matched the program record for a postseason event, originally set by Brian Campbell at the 2014 NCAA Championship, then matched by Dylan Meyer at the 2017 B1G Championship, and again a year ago by then-freshman Max Herendeen in his win at the 2024 NCAA Stanford Regional.
Junior Ryan Voois (T15) and Herendeen (T19) also posted top-20 scores in Round 1. Voois notched four birdies and three bogeys en route to an opening 70 (-1). Herendeen finished at even-par after opening his day at 3-under through 15 holes before a 3-over finish on Holes 17 and 18.
Freshman Jake Birdwell, the Illini's top finisher (T3) at the Big Ten Championship, posted the team's fourth counting score of the day with a 2-over 73, and sophomore Ethan Wilson carded a 77 (+6) to sit in a tie for 64th, but did not factor into the team's Round 1 tally.
Round 2 is set for Tuesday morning with tee times beginning at 8 a.m. CT. Illinois, paired with Texas Tech and UNLV, will be among the first groups off Hole 1. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard. The tournament is free and open to the public. Click here for more tournament information.
