Illini Host 16th Annual OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – The Fighting Illini men’s golf team, ranked No.. 11 in the first GCAA Coaches Top-25 Poll of the season, opens the 2022-23 season as the host team for the 16th annual OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill, Friday-Sunday.

THE SETTING

The OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational will be contested on the North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., once again providing a demanding but fair test for a field that includes some of the nation’s best players and programs. The course will feature a Par 70, 7,310-yard layout.   

Over the years, the famed club has been home to several premier events, having hosted the U.S. Amateur (2015), two U.S. Opens (1928, 2003), two PGA Championships (1925, 1961), a U.S. Senior Open (1997), plus five Western Opens (1920, 1927, 1933, 1968, 1971) and the 2020 BMW Championship.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days with 18 holes slated for each day of competition. Tee times for Rounds 1 and 2, on Friday and Saturday, respectively, begin at 8 a.m. CT. Sunday’s final round tee times are set for 7:30 a.m. CT.

THE FIELD

The 2022 OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational field is made up of some of the nation’s most successful collegiate golf programs:

• Eleven of the 15 teams in this year’s field are ranked or receiving votes in first GCAA Coaches Top-25 Poll released Sept. 9. In addition to the 11th-ranked Illini, OFCC will host No. 2 North Carolina, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Texas, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 15 Stanford, No. 18 Florida State, No. 25 Arizona, and Alabama, which is receiving votes.
• Teams in the 2022 OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational field have combined to account for 14 of 20 spots in the last 10 NCAA Championship match play finals, including each of the last four national title winners: Texas (2022), Pepperdine (2021), Stanford (2019), and Oklahoma State (2018)
• The field combined to tally 11 berths into the 2022 NCAA Regionals last May, with nine programs that advanced to stroke play at the NCAA Championship and five of the eight programs that closed the season in match play vying for the championship trophy at…