After winning the Big Ten Match Play Championship in early February, the Illinois men’s golf team pulled off a win at the Louisiana Classics against some of the top-ranked teams in the nation on Monday and Tuesday.

The team won with a final score of 2-over-par, after holding off LSU and Houston by eight and 10 strokes, respectively.

After the first two rounds played at the par-72, 6,898-yard Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette, La., all five Illini stood in the top 20, with senior Mason Jacobs and freshman Thomas Detry tied for ninth. Illinois led by seven strokes over Kansas despite battling windy conditions that effected play.

“It was cool and windy, but for the most part, we played well. We didn’t have any really low numbers or any really high numbers,” Illinois head coach Mike Small said in a statement after the first two rounds.

But the low numbers were in store for the Illini the final day of the tournament, especially from soon-to-be professional Thomas Pieters. After shooting a 3-over 75 the first round and 72 the second, Pieters was tied for 20th along with freshman Charlie Danielson.

His third-round 68 earned him a fifth-place finish in the 14-team field. Pieters had battled the flu for a week after the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate, in which the Illini placed third, in late February.

“I didn’t work out for almost a week,” he said. “I didn’t eat very well and didn’t have a lot of energy to make it through a 36-hole day.”

Pieters’ condition didn’t stop him from leading the Illinois squad by two strokes.

“I was definitely expecting to shoot that low,” he said of his final round. “I got off to a great start the last day. I gave myself a lot of birdie chances and am extremely happy how my round ended up.”

Pieters was also pleased by the play of his team. 

“It’s really encouraging how the whole team played steady. We’re such a deep team with a lot of talent throughout, and I think that definitely showed in Lafayette,” he said.

Sophomore Brian Campbell finished tied for 11th while Jacobs and Detry tied for 17th among the competitive field. Danielson tied for 26th overall while sophomore Alex Burge and freshman David Kim, both playing as individuals, tied for 13th and 33rd, respectively.

The win gives Illinois top-three finishes in the team’s first two stroke-play tournaments this season. This is also the Illini’s fourth win this year, adding to victories at the Big Ten Match Play Championships, the Wolf Run Invitational and the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate, the latter two which were in the fall.

Claire can be reached at [email protected].