Illinois came out firing this past weekend at the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational, held at the par 71, 7,017-yard Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. The Illini showed some consistency shooting 285-282-287, good for a three round total of 854. That score was the ninth-best 54-hole tournament score in school history and it earned Illinois a seventh-place finish in Arizona.

In what has been a relatively inconsistent season for the Illinois golfers, this weekend’s play was a huge step in the right direction.

“It was a nice weekend, we have worked really hard this season, and it finally started to come together out there,” said sophomore Frank Alafoginis.

Illinois finished behind six other teams including Arizona who won the event with a score of 830, defeating UNLV by one stroke. Ben Kern of Kansas State was the individual medalist with his 14-under par 199 for the weekend.

The Illini were led by sophomore Mark Ogren and junior Kyle Hosick who both shot even par for the tournament, carding 213’s. Alafoginis took the third spot for Illinois shooting a 2-over 215. He was followed by junior Pat Nagle and senior Blair Harkins who put up a 219 and 220 respectively.

I’m very encouraged by some of the guys stepping up by coming through and shooting some good scores,” said head coach Mike Small. “That was a strong field, we beat a couple top ten and top 20 teams. We are not scared of anyone but it’s good to have some success against [some of the best teams in the country].”

Good course conditions may have contributed to low scores for the rest of the competition as well.

According to Hosick, it was 85 degrees and sunny throughout the tournament with little to no wind.

“Even though the conditions were great you still have to go out and shoot the scores, but the course did play easier than the ones we’ve been playing,” Hosick said.

Illinois will now look ahead to the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate tournament on April 14-15 in Columbus, Ohio.

The starting lineup has yet to be determined for Columbus as Small continues to keep the competition for starting spots high. With such a deep squad, the starters will be determined by Small the week of the tournament.

“We have a young team and we have a lot of talent,” Small said. “[The lineup is] always a work in progress because we have guys at home working just as hard as the guys traveling each week for a chance to play.”