AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Fighting Illini men’s golf team, ranked No. 5 nationally by the GCAA and No. 6 in the latest Golfstat rankings, posted a second-place team finish behind three top-10 individual showings, including a runner-up from fifth-year senior Adrien Dumont de Chassart, at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club.
The result marks the eighth consecutive top-five finish for the Illini this season, a run that counts four victories on the year and now includes a second runner-up finish to go along with the team’s season-opening effort at Olympia Fields.
“Second place in this event is a solid showing, but we needed to play a little more efficient golf today, if we were going to catch Florida,” head coach Mike Small said. “We gave a lot of shots away – a lot of unforced errors. I told the guys that if this was baseball, we’d have left a lot of men in scoring position because we were in position to make some birdies and close the gap, but failed to do so. For the most part, though, it was a solid week, and now we’ve got to get ready for next week.”
No. 12 Florida (-39) pulled away for the team title. The Illini (-27) finished second, holding off a strong final-round push from No. 22 Virginia, who finished third with a team score of 840 (-24).
Dumont de Chassart finished one stroke off of his career-best 54-hole score, with a 13-under 203. A closing 69 (-3) in Round 3 was not enough, however, to hold off Florida’s Fred Biondi who carded a 65 (-7) to overcome a two-shot deficit entering the final round and finish with a 201 (-15). It is the seventh runner-up finish in Dumont de Chassart’s stellar career, that also includes three career victories.
Fifth-year senior and 2023 Haskins Award Watch List honoree Tommy Kuhl, and sophomore Jackson Buchanan also notched top-10 finishes on Sunday. The duo tied for eighth place with matching scores of 210 (-6). Kuhl now has 15-career top-10s, including six this season, while Buchanan has recorded five top-10 showings in just his first two seasons.
Matthis Besard, who closed as the Illini’s top finisher in their last outing at the N.I.T., tied for 34th with a 218 (+2), but his closing 75 did not score for the Illini. Instead, freshman Ryan Voois, making his debut in the lineup this week, provided the team’s fourth score in Round 3,…
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