NORTH PLAINS, Ore. – The No. 12-ranked Illinois men's golf team leads the way after Round 1 of the Big Ten Championship at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club's Witch Hollow Course. The Fighting Illini carded a team score of 279 (-1), rallying to a two-stroke advantage with a strong finish on the back nine during Friday's opening round.
"I thought we had a good, excited look today," head coach Mike Small said. "They were ready to go."
"The old adage is that you can't win it on the first day, but you can lose it," Small added. "We didn't lose it today. We hung in there pretty good after a tough start."
Sophomore Freddie Turnell and junior Max Herendeen were the catalyst for the Illini's round.
"Freddy got off to a tough start, got a break on No. 3, made bogey, and then really played well after that," Small said. "That was a big part of it. When the first guy goes out and can do that, that's huge."
Turnell finished with a 3-under 67 and sits in a tie atop the leaderboard Northwestern's Jeremy Chen and UCLA's Josh Kim.
The sophomore, coming off a win as an individual in the Illini's regular-season finale, immediately followed his early bogey with a birdie on No. 4. He responded again to a bogey on No 8 with another birdie on Hole 9 to close the front nine at even-par. After the turn, he birdied three of his next four holes to move to 3-under. A bogey on 14 was overcome two holes later his sixth birdie of the day on No. 16, and he closed out the round with three straight pars.
Herendeen sits just one shot behind Turnell in a tie for fourth place at 2-under. He joined Josh Kim as the only golfers in the 90-player field to finish the day without a bogey, posting red numbers on Holes 11 and 18.
"Max was solid all day, and it was good to see that," Small said. "He was able to put some pressure on the golf course. If you drive it crooked, the course puts pressure on you. Instead, he put pressure on the course."
Behind Turnell and Herendeen, senior Ryan Voois, junior Dane Huddleston, and a sophomore Trey Marrion all sit in a tie for 26th at 2-over.
Defending champion UCLA and Washington are tied for second, two strokes behind the Illini at 1-over. Nebraska (+4) is alone in fourth, and Minnesota and Northwestern are tied for fifth at 5-over.
Round 2 is set to begin with tee times off Holes 1 and 10 starting at 11:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. PT. The Illini, paired with the Bruins and Huskies, will be among the last groups to tee off on the front nine beginning at 1:10 p.m. CT/11:10 a.m. PT. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard.
