Competing for the first time in four years with four-time Big Ten champion Luke Guthrie, the Illini began the 2012-13 season unranked.
But this wasn’t going to stop the Illini from having a successful season. The team closed out the fall ranked No. 19 in the Golf World/Nike Coaches poll.
Illinois began the season with two straight wins at the Wolf Run Invitational and the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate.
Coming off of a great start, the Illini then headed to the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational. The team attended without two key players, defending national champion Thomas Pieters and freshman Thomas Detry, who were representing Belgium at the World Amateur Team Championships. Without these two players, the Illini dropped to a 10th-place finish.
Next up was the Isleworth Collegiate Invite. Illinois put freshmen Charlie Danielson, Thomas Detry and David Kim, along with sophomore Brian Campbell and fifth-year senior Mason Jacobs, in its lineup.
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The tournament featured eight ranked teams, including the top three teams in the country. Illinois played with No. 1 California and No. 2 Texas throughout the three-day tournament. Campbell’s rounds of 71 and 72 on the tough 7,544-yard Isleworth course helped the Illini end with a ninth-place finish at the event.
After the conclusion of four tournaments this fall, Pieters holds a team-best 72.00 stroke average after just playing in two events. He posted a pair of top-10 finishes, along with finishing sixth and a ninth.
Danielson ended the fall season with the second-best average on the team, a 72.67. He finished in the top 12 in three of four tournaments: seventh at D.A. Weibring, 10th at Wolf Run and was the top Illinois finisher at 12th place in Olympia Fields.
Illinois men’s golf coach Mike Small has always said, “Win tournaments in the fall, win championships in the spring.” Based on this saying, Illinois has done just that.
With two wins under their belt, the Illini will be preparing for the Big Ten Match Play, their first major tournament of the spring season. Once again, Illinois will be the top seed, ready to attest to their national talent.
Claire can be reached at [email protected].
