CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini men’s golf team will open the 2024-25 season ranked No. 9 in the Preseason Bushnell/Golfweek Division I Coaches Poll released Friday by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).
Actions speak louder than rankings.
We rank ninth in the 2024-25 Preseason @GolfCoachesAssn poll. #Illini // #HTTO pic.twitter.com/X2ef1P4vC7
— Illinois Men’s Golf (@IlliniMGolf) August 30, 2024
Illinois enters the year in search of the program’s 14th Big Ten Championship under the guidance of head coach Mike Small, now in his 25th campaign at the helm of his alma mater.
The Illini are coming off a 2023-24 season in which the team captured the NCAA Stanford Regional title, then finished first through 72 holes of stroke play at the NCAA Championship before posting the team’s ninth top-five national finish since 2011 as one of the final eight program’s vying for the national title in the match play portion of the championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
The Orange and Blue return four competitors from last season’s squad with a trio of GCAA PING All-Americans – Max Herendeen (second team), Jackson Buchanan (third team), and Ryan Voois (honorable mention) – back for more alongside sophomore Ethan Wilson. Buchanan was named Big Ten Golfer of the Year, while Herendeen and Voois each earned NCAA All-Championship Team honors after posting top-15 finishes, T2 and T11 respectively, in the individual title race at La Costa.
The 2024-25 Illini roster also features a trio of freshman newcomers in Jake Birdwell (Blaine, Minn.), Joseph Buttress (Perth, Australia), and Trey Marrion (Chesapeake, Va.).
The Illini return to the course to open the fall schedule, Sept. 9-11, at the Folds of Honor Collegiate in Grand Haven, Mich. Following play in Michigan, Illinois hosts one of the season’s most prestigious collegiate events at famed Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill.
The Fighting Illini will once again welcome 14 peers for the 18th annual OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational, Sept. 20-22, contested on the Par-70, 7,310-yard North Course. The event is recognized annually for offering a demanding but fair early-season test that attracts one of the best fields in collegiate golf. This season’s field will include 13 programs ranked or preseason top-25 votes in the preseason coaches…
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