Illinois golf ready for another run at the illusive NCAA Championship title

The men’s Illinois golf team is back in a familiar place, as we look to win a national championship.

It was an impressive spring season for the Illini, as there were multiple tournaments won for this talented squad. The Hal Williams Collegiate was the start of the impressive run, winning the tournament by three strokes led by Ryan Voois’ three-round total of 206.

Illinois would rattle off two more tournament wins in the spring as well. The Duke Invitational saw the Illini finish at -2 for the tournament, which marked the only team to finish under par. Less than a month later, Illinois took home the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate by 10 strokes.

Momentum carried the Orange and Blue into the Big Ten Championship where Illinois would finish a solid second place. Advancing to the NCAA Regional at Stanford, the Illini didn’t hold anything back. A three-round total of -36 clinched the regional title by eight strokes and sent us back to the NCAA Championship once again.

The NCAA Championship is where the best of the best compete to see who comes out with a national title. To get a chance to win the title, Illinois needed to get through a three-round stroke play event to advance to match play.

After a first-round 293 that saw the Illini sitting in fifth place, the Orange and Blue hit a different gear. A second and third round of 287 and 282, respectively, enabled Illinois to cruise to an NCAA Championship stroke play victory. Illinois finished at -6 for the stroke play portion, and the next closest team was Vanderbilt at +10.

The illusive national championship hopefully awaits this hot men’s Illinois golf team

The NCAA Championship has nearly been a permanent home for the men’s Illinois golf team throughout the past couple of decades. It has been an impressive run, but also a run that hasn’t ended the way anyone had hoped it would.

Illinois has made the NCAA Championship 14 out of the past 16 seasons. One of those seasons was canceled due to COVID-19.

Among the great run for the Illini, we have made the match play portion of the NCAA Championship eight times, including a fifth-place finish in 2023.

The Elite 8 tees off on Tuesday, as Illinois takes on No. 8 seed Georgia Tech. The winner then advances on to either play North Carolina or Florida State. Illinois has a great team this season, as we are the No. 1 overall seed. Hopefully, this is the year the streak is broken, and we bring home the hardware.