Illinois men’s golf takes second at Lone Star Invitational
Illinois’ Luke Guthrie and other members of the Illinois team practice at the driving range at Stone Creek Golf Club in Urbana on Wednesday, April 18, 2012.
March 24, 2017
The Illinois men’s golf team breezed through its first two rounds, taking an eight-stroke lead into Tuesday’s final round at the Lone Star Invitational in San Antonio.
Oklahoma, however, cruised through its last round, passing up the Illini and finishing at 40-under for the tournament.
Illinois finished just behind No. 15 Oklahoma, scoring an 828, or 36-under, the second-lowest 54-hole finish in school history. As it turned out, it was not enough for the Illini, who are now winless in their first three competitions of the spring after winning four of their five fall events.
Junior Dylan Meyer’s career-best effort, which saw him tie for second overall at 14-under and shoot a single-round low of 65, earned him Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors. It is Meyer’s first time winning the honor and the fourth time an Illinois golfer has won it this season — Nick Hardy shared the award with Kyle Mueller Jr. of Michigan on March 1.
Freshman Michael Feagles shot a career-round low of 66 and a tournament career-low of 206. The performance was good enough to tie for fourth at 10-under for the two-day, three-round event.
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Junior Nick Hardy followed close behind, tying for sixth at 7-under, his seventh top-10 finish of the season. Sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli placed in the top-15 for the fourth time this season, shooting 4-under and ending in a tie for 15th.
Freshmen Bryan Baumgarten and Giovanni Tadiotto continued to jockey for the fifth spot in the Illini lineup with Baumgarten getting the nod for the final spot this time.
Baumgarten struggled to match the performances of the rest of the team, shooting 78s the last two rounds and finishing 13-over; he finished tied for 72nd. Tadiotto —after underperforming in his last outing in the lineup in Las Vegas — bounced back to tie for 41st at 1-under for the tournament.
Illinois will have much of the next week to prepare for its next outing, a trip to Georgia, for the 3M Augusta Invitational. The event features two other ranked teams besides the No. 6 Illini: No. 17 Texas and No. 19 Georgia. In addition, Pepperdine, Kennesaw State and the hosts, Augusta highlight the rest of the field.
