Illinois Golf: Strong Illini squad plows through Mobile Bay Intercollegiate
The first multi-team tournament is in the books for the Illinois golf team, and some hardware is coming back to Champaign.
Returning just about everyone from the 2019-20 squad, the Illini were poised to be pretty good this season. After the fall being canceled, many expected there to potentially be some rust come spring. That isn’t the case at all.
Illinois entered the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate on Sunday as one of the best teams in the field and it showed. The Illini nearly lapped the competition, shooting a three-round total of -37. Indiana was a distant second-place finisher at -20 for the tournament.
Consistency was key here for the Orange and Blue. They shot 274, 276 and 277 in the three rounds to take home the crown. While the win as a team was impressive, I would say the individual effort by the golfers was even more astounding.
Illinois’ No. 2 golfer for this tournament was Michael Feagles, but he threw up numbers that show he might be one of the best amatures in the world.
Feagles posted three-straight rounds in the 60s, going 67, 67 and 66 for a three-round total of -16. This lapped the field, as the second-place finisher was at -8 for the tournament. Who was that second-place finisher? Illini golfer, Jerry Ji.
The impressive play by the Illini is something that doesn’t happen very often. Feagles finished first in the tournament. Ji came in solo second place. Tommy Kuhl, Illinois’ No. 4 golfer, finished in a tie for third place, shooting a three-day total of -7. Adrien Dumont de Chassart was -5 for the tournament and finished in a tie for ninth place.
These four Illini golfers carried the load at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate, and that will probably be the case for most of the season. We do have a stacked lineup, though.
Brendan O’Reilly didn’t have a good outing, finishing +5 and a tie for 47th place. He should come around as the season starts progressing. I also believe Giovanni Tadiotto is going to be a huge asset to the Illini. He teed it up as an individual in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate but didn’t play well the first two rounds only to throw up a -2, 70, in round three. Look for him to shoot around stroke average from last season of 72.6 or better the rest of the way out.
Next. Mike Small’s Illini bunch laced with talent and experience. dark
In the first big tournament of the season, Illinois showed their firepower. This squad is one of the deepest I have seen in years, so don’t be shocked if we make some noise come May.