Langley wins first collegiate tournament at Argonaut Invite

By Jim Shay

Scott Langley’s reputation as an exceptional junior golfer proceeded him as an Illini, but the freshman’s performance in this year’s Argonaut Invite proved the Manchester, Mo., native is the real deal.

Tuesday’s one-under par 71 sealed Langley’s first collegiate tournament win against host West Florida and a field of eight other teams from around the country.

Though the Illini finished second behind the Argonauts in the final team standings, Langley beat out West Florida’s Otto Bonning by a single stroke to capture the tournament title.

“I hit the ball really solid this week,” Langley said in a press release. “I tried not to think about (the leaderboard). I knew I had to stay aggressive, yet with the windier conditions, be patient at the same time.”

In Langley’s win, the Illini collected their second individual tournament victory of the year, the first time the program has had multiple winners since 2002-03.

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Sophomore Zach Barlow also registered a top-5 individual finish, shooting a three-under par 213 on the weekend – good enough for a fourth-place tie.

“It’s no coincidence of how well those guys played,” Illinois head coach Mike Small said. “They have worked extremely hard and the results back up that strong work ethic. We take a lot of positives away from this experience. We defeated every school but the host team, who was playing on its home course.”