Coming off a tied-for-third finish in West Lafayette at the Purdue Fall Invitational, No. 9 Illinois men’s golf looks to keep its momentum in Kettering, Ohio, for the Flyer Invitational. The Illini will take the course over a two-day period, with play beginning Monday and wrapping up Tuesday.
All is set for 54 holes of golf to be played, with 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes to finish things off on Tuesday at the south course of NCR Country Club. The south course has been regarded as a championship-caliber course that is an extremely demanding par 71 layout covering 7,055 yards of wooded, rolling terrain.
Illinois will need another brilliant performance from junior Jackson Buchanan, who was just named Big Ten player of the week for the third time in his career. Buchanan put together three excellent rounds in the 60s at the Purdue Fall Invitational, good enough for a share of first place in the individual standings.
This tournament is a weaker field and Illinois enters as the highest-ranked team in the 13-team field, sitting at ninth in the Golfweek Rankings. With just two other top-100 teams competing, No. 73 Marquette and in-state rival No. 64 Illinois State, Illinois will be viewed as heavy favorites with lofty expectations of a win.
As the defending champions of the Flyer Invitational, Illinois will be looking to capture gold at NCR Country Club once again. However, Marquette poses a big threat to Illinois, as they finished second in last year’s tournament and are surely aiming to improve on what they were able to do last year. The course proved to be challenging last fall, with Illinois winning the tournament at 29-over-par.
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The Illini are fielding a team of Buchanan, freshman Max Herendeen, fifth-years Jerry Ji and Tyler Goecke and sophomore Ryan Voois in hopes of continuing last week’s momentum. Freshman Ethan Wilson and fifth-year Timmy Crawford will compete in individual play.
In order to have a shot at repeating, Illinois will need Goecke to display the same brilliance as last year, where he finished as the runner-up at the Flyer Invitational. The transfer from Wright State put on a clinic, posting a 69-70 first two rounds and came back to earth with a 76 final round. If Goecke can replicate his runner-up finish, the Illini could be looking at back-to-back victories in Ohio.
In their penultimate tournament of 2023, the Illini will look to play disciplined golf and defend their title, taking on one of the nation’s toughest courses.
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