Illini Finish 10th at Weather-Shortened OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – The No. 9-ranked Fighting Illini men’s golf team finished in 10^th place at the 17^th OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational after a lightning delay and continuing rainfall Sunday morning resulted in unplayable conditions that forced the cancellation of Round 3 of the prestigious event.

True freshman Max Herendeen led the way for the Illini for the second straight event to open his collegiate career. A week after a runner-up finish (via playoff) at the Sahalee Players Championship, Herendeen finished tied for 13^th at Olympia Fields with a 36-hole score of 139 (-1).

As a team, the Illini finished 10-over with a two-round team score of 570. No. 1-ranked North Carolina (-10) claimed the team title for the second time in three seasons and joins Illinois (3), Stanford (2) and Oklahoma State (2) as the fourth program with multiple wins in the event’s 17-year run.

No. 11 Texas finished second at 4-under, followed by No. 4 Georgia Tech (-3), No. 2 Arizona State (E), and No. 13 Alabama (+1) to round out the top five. No. 5 Florida State (+6) placed sixth, while No. 19 Arizona and Baylor shot 8-over to tie for seventh, and No. 8-ranked Florida edged out the Orange and Blue by one shot to finish in ninth. The Illini claimed head-to-head wins over No. 15 Pepperdine, Purdue, No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Stanford, and Michigan State.

Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht won medalist honors by a single stroke with a tournament-record 36-hole score of 131 (-9).

Tyler Goecke finished second among the competitors in the Illini’s five-man lineup, tying for 30^th at 3-over with rounds of 71 and 72. Jackson Buchanan and Timmy Crawford tied for 44^th at 145 (+5), and Ryan Voois placed 60^th at 147 (+7).

Another Illini true freshman, Ethan Wilson, finished first among the team’s trio of individual competitors in his collegiate debut. Wilson, from St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, posted back-to-back 72s to finish tied for 37^th at 144 (+4). Jerry Ji matched Buchanan and Crawford at 5-over in a tie for 44^th, while Piercen Hunt tied for 68^th at 8-over par.

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The Illini will reach the midway point of their five-tournament fall schedule, remaining in the Midwest and making the short trip to nearby West Lafayette, Ind., to play in the Purdue Fall Classic at the Boilermaker’s Ackerman-Allen Golf Course, Oct. 9-10.

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