Illinois men’s golf struggled last weekend at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational, finishing in a tie for eighth place at 14-over par against tough competition. No. 4 Florida took the title at 20-under, with No. 3 Vanderbilt finishing at 9-under for second place.

Junior Dylan Meyer led the Illini at 2-under, which earned him an 11th place individual finish. Sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli tied for 23rd at 4-over, with freshman Michael Feagles following behind him in 32nd place. Junior Nick Hardy tied for 46th, and freshman Bryan Baumgarten tied for 68th place at 18-over par.

Head coach Mike Small acknowledged his team’s shaky performance in a press release and cited poor course management, in addition to a lack of technical execution.

“We hit some good quality shots and had stretches of good play,” Small said. “But we had too many course management mistakes that led to some big numbers. We played the Par 5s poorly this week, and along with below average putting, we were never a factor in the tournament.”

Illinois will wrap up its fall season at the East Lake Cup on Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 in Atlanta as it looks to defend the title it won at the East Lake Golf Club last season. The Illini defeated Georgia, who was ranked No. 4 at the time, in the final round of the match play event.

The team arrived back in Champaign after its flight home from Florida on Tuesday and will practice throughout the week before heading to Atlanta. The field will be another test for the Illini, as they will collide with No. 15 Oregon — the defending national champions, No. 3 Vanderbilt and No. 23 Texas.

The tournament will start with an individual stroke play competition, moving on to two days of match play and will be televised by the Golf Channel.

[email protected]

@di_sports