Illinois Golf: Are the Illini ready to rebound this spring?

The Illinois golf team is gearing up for their spring session and looking to make another run in the postseason.

Illinois has won 10 out of the last 11 Big Ten Championships. They have been to the NCAA tournament the last 12 seasons with six top-five finishes in that span. We had two individual NCAA Champions during that time in Thomas Pieters (2012) and Scott Langley (2010). Seven other times, the Illini have had a top 10 finisher in the NCAA tournament.

That is a tough act to follow for the current rendition of the Orange and Blue. A rough fall session didn’t help either.

The best result this past fall was a tie for fifth place at the Fighting Illini Invite. In that tournament, Michael Feagles and Bryan Baumgarten led the way for Illinois with a three-round total of four-over. This was good enough for a tied for 17th.

This fall was more about playing time than anything. The experience this Illini squad gained will be invaluable once the spring session starts. A total of 10 Illini golfers had a chance to participate this past fall with the best scoring average going to Feagles. He averaged a 72.00 in his 12 rounds.

Can Illinois compete for a title, or at least get back to the NCAA tournament in 2020?

The rough fall had Illinois drop in the national rankings. We were a top 25 team at one point, but the current Golfstat rankings have us at No. 50 in the nation. But I believe there could be a major rebound this spring.

I think it is way too early to panic for this blue blood golf program. We clearly didn’t play well in the fall. Bryan Baumgarten, who had a stroke average of 71.81 last season, was averaging 72.58 strokes in the fall. That number should improve this spring.

Feagles had a stroke average of 70.97 last season. While he led the team this fall in stroke average, that number still sat at 72 strokes. I expect that number to improve this spring. Giovanni Tadiotto is in the same boat. He threw up a stroke average last season of 72.50, but his stroke average this past fall was 74.56. Look for his numbers to improve as well.

I could continue on, but you get the point. Illinois just played badly in the fall. We weren’t terribly competitive, but that is likely to change this spring. Watch out for this team to get hot and crack the top 25 once again. Don’t be shocked if we are dancing come May.