FROM THE DESK OF HEAD COACH MIKE SMALL In my 18 years as the head golf coach at the University of Illinois, the landscape of college golf and our program has changed immensely. One thing that has stayed the same though is this program’s incredible support from alumni, fans and donors. As we approach the 17th Annual Illini Golf Classic hosted by Illini Tour Professionals, I can’t stress enough how grateful we are for your support and commitment to making the Illini Golf Classic a great success. Through your participation, sponsorship and auction involvement, our golf team has been afforded the opportunity to play and compete on some of the best courses and against some of the top teams in the country. In addition, this outing helps the success of our team by outfitting our first-class Demirjian Indoor and Lauritsen/Wohlers Outdoor Golf Practice Facilities with premier equipment and training aids. The Illini Golf Classic is unique because of the loyalty that Illini touring professionals have towards the event, and their desire to come back to support their program, while also spending time with the many Illini friends that have followed their careers. Illini greats Steve Stricker, D.A. Points, Scott Langley, Luke Guthrie, Thomas Pieters, Brian Campbell and Thomas Detry have all become household names on the PGA and European Tours and have graciously donated their time and effort to our event. We appreciate their continued faithfulness and support to our program and University! We encourage you to please mark your calendar and plan on attending the 17th Annual Illini Golf Classic hosted by Illini Tour Professionals. Invite your friends, family, clients and employees to join in this year’s festivities. We want to continue to make this a special occasion and with your participation, we can have a great time celebrating Illini Golf together and making the 2018 Illini Golf Classic another one to remember. Best Wishes, MIKE SMALL Men’s Golf Coach LF GO CL I A N S I S L I C L I ILLINI GOLF CLASSIC // 8 ILLINI GOLF CLASSIC // 1 A LOOK AT THE 2017-18 REGULAR SEASON ILLINOIS MEN’S GOLF TEAM The 2017-18 Fighting Illini men’s golf team once again headed into NCAA Championship play on a high note in May as the squad won its fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship title on April 29. The Orange and Blue battled windy conditions at Baltimore Country Club during the final round of play to pull ahead of the tournament field by 15 strokes. The Big Ten Championship title marked the 16th Big Ten Men’s Golf Championship in program history, and the ninth title in the last 10 seasons. That wasn’t the only highlight of the tournament, however, as senior Nick Hardy won the second Big Ten Individual title of his career. One of just two players to finish under par at the Big Ten Championships, Hardy closed the tournament at 6-under par to become the eighth consecutive Big Ten Championship medalist from Illinois, and the fourth Illini to win multiple individual conference titles in his career. Hardy previously earned Big Ten Co-Medalist honors as a freshman in 2015. The Orange and Blue are the only team in Big Ten history to garner eight consecutive individual medalists. Hardy was named Big Ten Player of the Year following the Championships, and head coach Mike Small earned his 10th career Big Ten Coach of the Year nod. Hardy also earned a spot on the All-Big Ten First Team, as did fellow senior Dylan Meyer and sophomore Michael Feagles. Sophomore Bryan Baumgarten earned Second Team All-Big Ten recognition. Experienced seniors Hardy and Meyer worked to lead a young Illini squad this season. The two upperclassmen have contributed to four Big Ten Championship titles and have combined for three Big Ten Individual Medalist honors, two Big Ten Player of the Year nods, eight All-Big Ten recognitions and three All-America laurels. Sophomores Baumgarten, Feagles and Giovanni Tadiotto also helped to guide newcomers Brendan O’Reilly and Varun Chopra. Individually, Illini players combined for 32 individual finishes among the top 15 this season. The Orange and Blue opened the 2017-18 campaign with their home tournament, earning a fifth-place finish at Olympia Fields Country Club. Hardy began his consistent season on a strong note as he earned a runner-up finish at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational as well. He continued on to earn 10 finishes among the top seven individuals during the year. Three Illini, Hardy, Feagles and Meyer, placed among the top 20 in Illinois’ next tournament, as the Orange and Blue also earned a fifth-place team finish at the Bearcat Invitational. Illinois continued the fall season with a third-place team finish at the Crooked Stick Intercollegiate, before earning runner-up honors at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational. Meyer won his first tournament of the year in Windermere, Florida, as he fired an 11-under par 205 to lead the Tavistock field. Illinois once again closed fall play at the East Lake Cup, making its third-straight appearance at the prestigious event. Held at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, the East Lake Cup is a three-day event that welcomes four of the top men’s and women’s collegiate golf teams from the previous year’s NCAA Championship. Illinois earned the No. 3 seed in match play following the stroke play portion of the event, and advanced to face Oklahoma in the semifinal round. The Orange and Blue defeated defending National Champion Oklahoma, 3-2-0, to advance to face Vanderbilt in the final round of play. The Commodores, however, topped the Illini 3-0-2 in the final match to earn the East Lake Cup trophy. The spring campaign opened up with another match play event, as the Orange and Blue traveled to Hammock Beach, Florida for Big Ten Match Play. The Illini came out with match victories over Nebraska and Northwestern to take sixth out of the 14 teams. UI moved on to stroke play at the Louisiana Classics in late February, taking second overall as a team and building momentum into the spring season. The Illini posted a 21-under par 843 as five players finished among the top 20 individuals. Baumgarten led the squad in Lafayette as he tied for third in the field. Freshman Brendan O’Reilly had a breakout performance for the Orange and Blue at the Southern Highlands Collegiate to start off the month of March. He posted a career-low 67 (-5) in the final round of play to move up the individual leaderboard. Baumgarten followed up O’Reilly’s performance with a breakout performance of his own as he paced Illinois to a team victory at the BIGHORN Invitational in Palm Desert California, while earning the first individual tournament victory of his career. Baumgarten posted a season-low, 11-under par, 205 for the tournament, helping the Illini to a 40-under par team finish. Illinois’ 54-hole score of 824 marked the second-lowest in program history as well. Illinois continued to bring the heat to close out the regular season, posting another team victory at the 3M Augusta Invitational. Baumgarten continued to go low as he used a season-low 66 in the final round of play to help power the Orange and Blue, while Meyer won the individual title at the event for the second consecutive season. The individual title marked the sixth of Meyer’s career and the second for the senior during the 2017-18 campaign. The Illini closed regular season play against a field of Big Ten opponents at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate. Hosted by Ohio State, four Illini earned top-20 individual finishes in Columbus, as the Fighting Illini closed out a second-place finish at the event. Hardy was once again among the top finishers with a runner-up spot, and he was joined among the top 20 by Baumgarten, Meyer and Tadiotto. With 11 top-five team finishes under their belt this season, the Illini are poised for success heading into NCAA Championship play. LF GO CL I A N S I S L I C L I ILLINI GOLF CLASSIC // 2 MIKE SMALL MEN’S GOLF COACH Head Coach Mike Small has the distinction of playing on one Big Ten championship team and coaching nine. Small was a member of the 1988 team that claimed the title and guided the Illini to five consecutive Big Ten titles from 2009-13, marking only the fourth time a conference school has won five or more straight championships in men’s golf. His squads added another four consecutive titles from 2015-18. Small has led Illinois to top- five NCAA finishes in six of the last seven seasons, including a runner-up standing in 2013 where they won matches against 2012 NCAA champion Texas and No. 1 California before falling to Alabama in the championship match. The 2015 Dave Williams National Coach of the Year, Mike Small has also been named Big Ten Coach of the Year 10 times during his tenure at Illinois. Under Small’s direction, nine student-athletes have earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors, including one in each of the last seven seasons, and six players have earned Freshman of the Year recognition. Illinois athletes have won 23 All-America honors and 46 All-Big Ten accolades. Under Small’s direction, the Illini program has seen consistent success as his teams have not only continued to achieve greatness at the conference level, but on the national level as well.