Before playing in the Augusta Invitational this weekend, sophomore Thomas Detry stressed the importance of playing smart golf.

The 15-team field showcased seven out of the top 25 teams in the nation this weekend in Augusta, Ga. 

Detry finished tied for fourth in the individual standings, carding rounds of 71 and 68 on Saturday, followed by a bogey-free round of 69 on Sunday.

“I just played solid golf,” Detry said. “It’s funny because Coach Small talked to us after our rounds on Saturday and emphasized the ability to avoid bogeys as much as we could, and that’s exactly what I did today.”

Detry only missed one green-in-regulation on Sunday at the 7,028-yard, par-72 Forest Hills Golf Club and was still able to manage to get up-and-down to save par.

“If you’re able to avoid bogeys, while throwing a couple birdies in there, you can easily shoot three, four or five-under,” Detry said.

The No. 8 Illini, who finished fourth in the team standings behind No. 7 Central Florida, No. 19 Texas and No. 13 Virginia Tech, also got solid contributions from Charlie Danielson and David Kim. 

Danielson finished tied for twelfth in the individual standing after shooting rounds of 72-70-72. 

Kim carded rounds of 71-77-71 to finish tied for 30th.

“We had a couple lapses in the first and second round,” head coach Mike Small said. “We were able to fight back from that, which put us in a good position after the second round which was very important. You can’t control your opponents, but we played better today which is encouraging.”

One of the Illini’s strongest players, Brian Campbell, struggled for most of the weekend, but still managed to tie for 38th after posting rounds of 74-75-71.

“He [Danielson] is a really good player and is capable of shooting very low scores,” Detry said. 

“Not having him playing well on Saturday was tough, but overall, we took fourth in a strong field which is not bad at all. After a difficult start, we finished pretty well.”

After competing against some of the top collegiate talent in the country this weekend in Augusta, the Illini will now have the opportunity to watch the best professional golfers in the world at the Master’s practice round on Monday.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @yaboybernie11.