Illinois Golf: Illini need strong finish heading into Big Ten Championships

Illinois golf fans are used to seeing the men’s team dominate the college landscape, but this year things seem to be a little trickier for the Orange and Blue.

Let’s be honest, it isn’t easy replacing talented players like Dylan Meyer and Nick Hardy. Replacing these two talented, all-time, great players is like replacing Deron Williams and Dee Brown. There just isn’t an easy transition from that squad to any future squads. The fact that this team is even competing for tournament titles is nothing short of impressive.

Of course, there are some holdovers from that talented squad last season. The Big 3 in Bryan Baumgarten, Michael Feagles and Giovanni Tadiotto are the bell cows for this team right now. They are the ones that need to perform every match. Illinois has been getting that, for the most part, this season.

The fall session went pretty well for the Illini. They ended up winning The MacDonald Cup with a team score of -15. They were seven strokes better than the next team, Yale. Illinois then went up to Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Indiana to play in the Fighting Irish Golf Classic. With a score of -44, the Illini took home this title as well. The next best score was Georgia Southern at -34.

There were a couple of rough tournaments in there for the Illini, though. We struggled a bit at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite. The team finished +22 and that was good enough for sixth place. There were some pretty good teams competing in this event, so it was a good gauge on where we stood nationally.

Another tough tournament was the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational. This was another good gauge to see where the program stood nationally. It hosted 15 teams, 10 of which were ranked, and the Illini shot +13 for the three-round total. They finished in a tie for tenth place.

Illinois made the turn into the New Year and the spring session. They had a solid third-place showing at the Big Ten Match Play event. The Illini then followed that up with a second-place showing at the annual Louisiana Classics event. We were the only ranked team in the tournament and finished at +6. McNeese State won the event at -1.

The last tournament the Illini competed in was the Southern Highlands Collegiate. This was an event that featured 14 out of the 15 teams being ranked. Illinois put up a solid number and proved they could compete with the best of the best in the nation. As a team, the Illini shot +2 and finished ninth for the tournament. They weren’t too many strokes from getting a top-five finish either.

Like most seasons for the Illini, finding the right combination of the No. 4 and No. 5 golfers is going to determine the future of this team. Baumgarten and Feagles have been playing the best golf and they are looking like the new Meyer and Hardy. Over the last two tournaments combined, Baumgarten is -6 and Feagles is -5. You can’t ask much more out of these two.

There are a few more tournaments coming up that enable the Illini to figure out the lineup before the Big Ten Championships. This team has a lot of talent, but it will be interesting to see if we can get stability at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots. If that happens, this team could be dangerous in the NCAAs.