MEN’S GOLF NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES Athletics Communication // 1700 South Fourth Street // Champaign, IL 61820 MGolf Contact: Danny Mattie // Office: 217-300-4067 // Cell: 970-217-3140 // [email protected] // fightingillini.com FIGHTINGILLINI.com @IlliniMGolf @IlliniMGolf @IlliniMGolf ILLINOIS 2020-21 ROSTER Name Yr. Hometown Stroke Avg. Top-10s Top-25s Note Luke Armbrust Jr. Wheaton, Ill. -- -- -- -- Adrien Dumont de Chassart Jr. Villers la Ville, Belgium 70.96 7 9 Big Ten Co-Golfer of the Year Michael Feagles Gr. Scottsdale, Ariz. 70.78 6 8 Bolstad Award Winner (B1G low average) Piercen Hunt Fr. Hartland, Wis. 73.20 1 3 Career-low 70 at Boilermaker Individual Jerry Ji So. Hoofddorp, Netherlands 71.29 5 8 First career victory at Louisiana Classics Tommy Kuhl Jr. Morton, Ill. 73.22 3 4 Top-10 finish at B1G Championship Nico Lang So. Ingolstadt, Germany 73.50 0 0 Played six rounds as an indy in 2020-21 Brendan O’Reilly Sr. Hinsdale, Ill. 73.33 1 0 Six of 12 rounds at par or better Giovanni Tadiotto Gr. Anderlecht, Belgium 72.44 3 5 Three top-10 finishes on the season May 28 - June 2, 2021 THE COACHES Mike Small // 21st season // 11-time B1G Coach of the Year // 2016 GCAA Hall of Fame Inductee Grayhawk Golf Club - Raptor Course Justin Bardgett // 2nd season (Par 70 - 7,289 yds.) ILLINI AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS Scottsdale, Ariz. NCAA Championship Appearances: ......................... 28 (27 Since 1939) Consecutive NCAA Appearances: ............................ 13 NCAA Top-5 Finishes: .............................................. 9 Most Recent Finish: ................................................ T-27th (2019) NCAA Individual Champions: ................................... 2 (2010, Scott Langley; 2012, Thomas Pieters) NCAA Match Play Appearances: ............................. 6 QUICK FACTS ON THE 2021 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP Stroke Play Schedule ...............................May 28-31, 2021 - 72 Holes » Friday: Round 1 (18 holes) - 8:10 a.m. CT / 6:10 a.m. MST » Saturday: Round 2 (18 holes) - 8:10 a.m. CT / 6:10 a.m. MST » Sunday: Round 3 (18 holes) - 8:10 a.m. CT / 6:10 a.m. MST - Top 15 Advance » Monday: Round 4 (18 holes) - 12 p.m. CT / 10 a.m. MST - Top 8 Advance Live Coverage: Golf Channel - 4-8 p.m. CT / 2-6 p.m. MST Match Play Schedule ................................June 1-2, 2021 - 3 Rounds » Tuesday: Quarterfinals - 8:20 a.m. CT / 6:20 a.m. MST 2021 BIG TEN CHAMPIONS Live Coverage: Golf Channel - 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. CT / 9-11:30 a.m. MST » Tuesday: Semifinals - 2:45 p.m. CT / 12:45 p.m. MST Live Coverage: Golf Channel - 4-8 p.m. CT / 2-6 p.m. MST » Wednesday: Championship - 3:35 p.m. CT / 1:35 p.m. MST 2020-21 ILLINOIS SCHEDULE Live Coverage: Golf Channel - 4-8 p.m. CT / 2-6 p.m. MST Course: .....................................................Grayhawk Golf Club - Raptor Course (Scottsdale, Ariz.) Date Event Result Par/Yardage: ............................................Par 70 | 7,289 yards Feb. 6 Tinervin Cup W, 9-7 Live Scoring: ..............................................GolfStat.com Feb. 14-16 Mobile Bay Intercollegiate 1st/15 Feb. 26-28 LSU Invitational 1st/15 ILLINI SET FOR 13TH CONSECUTIVE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP BERTH March 15-16 Louisiana Classics 1st/14 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Fighting Illini men’s golf team, No. 8 in the latest Golfstat team rankings, continues its postseason run, May March 20-21 National Invitational Tournament T5th/18 28 - June 2, at the 2021 NCAA Championship, The Orange and Blue are coming off a second-place finish at the Stillwater Regional to April 3-4 Augusta Haskins Award Invitational 4th/15 advance to their 13th-consecutive - and the program’s 28th overall - NCAA Championship berth. April 10-11 Boilermaker Invitational 2nd/16 April 24-25 Robert Kepler Intercollegiate 1st/17 THE SETTING The 2021 NCAA Championship is hosted by Arizona State University at Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor Course in Scottsdale, Ariz. The course, April 30-May 2 Big Ten Championship 1st/14 designed by Tom Fazio, is considered to be one of the finest golf courses in Scottsdale and is listed among the best public golf courses May 17-18 NCAA Stillwater Regional 2nd/13 in Arizona by Golfweek and Golf Magazine. It is one of only two Scottsdale golf courses to host a PGA TOUR event – the Frys.com Open, May 28-June 2 NCAA Championship Scottsdale, Ariz. 2007-2009. Other tour-sanctioned tournaments hosted on the Raptor Course include the inaugural Williams World Challenge, the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf and Waste Management Phoenix Open pro-ams. TOURNAMENT FORMAT The 2021 NCAA Championship will be played over six days from Friday, May 28 through Wednesday, June 2. Friday through Monday will feature four rounds of stroke play - a cut to 15 teams will take place following Sunday’s third round (54 holes) - to determine the individual national champion. The top eight teams will advance to Tuesday morning’s match play quarterfinals. Semifinals matches are scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, when the final four teams will compete for a place in the match play championship set for Wednesday afternoon. 2021 Illinois Men’s Golf Notes | 18-Time Big Ten Champions | 2013 NCAA Runner-up THE FIELD NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDS CONSECUTIVE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP BERTHS The 30-team field for the 2021 NCAA Championship includes the top-five finishers (ACTIVE STREAKS) at each of six regional sites contested May 17-19. The Fighting Illini enter play at the 1 Florida State RANK SCHOOL TOTAL (SINCE) 2021 NCAA Championship ranked as the No. 8 overall seed in the field after beginning 2 Oklahoma 1. Texas 14 (2007) their postseason run as the No. 2 seed in the Stillwater Regional where they finished 3 Oklahoma State 2. Illinois 13 (2008) second behind host Oklahoma State, the No. 3 overall seed in the championship round. 4 Clemson 3. Oklahoma 10 (2011) Florida State, the winner of the Tallahassee Regional, ranks as the top overall seed, fol- 5 Texas 4. Oklahoma State 8 (2013) lowed by Oklahoma which finished fourth in the Albuquerque Regional. No. 4 Clemson 6 North Carolina 5. Vanderbilt 7 (2014) tied for fourth in the Kingston Springs Regional, No. 6 Texas claimed the Noblesville 7 Wake Forest T6. Arizona State 6 (2015) Regional title, five shots ahead of No. 6-seeded North Carolina. Wake Forest, which 8 Illinois placed third in the Cle Elum Regional, is seeded just ahead of the Illini at No. 7, while T6. Clemson 6 (2015) 9 Pepperdine 8. North Carolina 4 (2017) Pepperdine - which finished one shot behind the Demon Deacons - is just behind 10 Arizona State the Orange and Blue at No. 9. NCAA Championship host Arizona State, coming off a second-place finish at the Albuquerque Regional - rounds out the top-10 seeds. The 11 Vanderbilt NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES table at right shows the complete list of the 2021 NCAA Championship Team seeds. 12 Georgia (SINCE 2001 - MIKE SMALL ERA AT ILLINOIS) 13 NC State FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP 14 Tennessee RANK SCHOOL TOTAL No. 1: Adrien Dumont de Chassart 15 Liberty 1. Oklahoma State 19 No. 2: Michael Feagles 2. Texas 18 16 SMU No. 3: Jerry Ji T3. Arizona State 17 17 San Francisco No. 4 Giovanni Tadiotto T3. Florida 17 18 Florida No. 5: Tommy Kuhl T3. Georgia 17 19 Texas Tech Alt: Piercen Hunt T6. Illinois 15 20 Arkansas T6. Auburn 15 ILLINI NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY 21 San Diego State T6. Southern California 15 The Fighting Illini have competed for the national title 28 times - 27 since the NCAA 22 Georgia Tech T6. Georgia Tech 15 era officially began in 1939 - and have established the program as one of the top 23 Louisville T10. Clemson 13 postseason performers in collegiate golf over the last 21 years under the guidance of 24 Sam Houston State T10. Oklahoma 13 head coach Mike Small. 25 Oregon State T10. Washington 13 26 UAB Since Small took the reins of his alma mater prior to the 2000-01 season, the Orange 27 TCU and Blue have competed in 16 of 20 NCAA Regionals, and have advanced to the 28 East Tennessee State MOST YEARS ADVANCING TO MATCH PLAY NCAA Championship round on 15 occasions. Put another way, nearly 94 percent of 29 Little Rock (SINCE CURRENT WAS ADOPTED IN 2009) the Illini’s postseason runs under Small have resulted in the team advancing to 30 San Diego RANK SCHOOL TOTAL (SINCE) the NCAA Championship. Even more impressive, since 2008 the Illini have secured 1. Oklahoma State 7 (2019) 13-consecutive NCAA Championship berths, the second-longest streak in the country T2. Illinois 6 (2017) (one behind Texas). INDIVIDUAL SEEDS T2. Texas 6 (2019) 1 Ryan Hall (South Carolina) T4. Oklahoma 4 (2019) Entering the 2021 NCAA Championship, and since the current Stroke Play/Match Play 2 James Piot (Michigan St.) T4. Vanderbilt 4 (2019) format was adopted in 2009, the Fighting Illini boast six seasons - 2011, 2013, 2014, 3 Michael Sakane (Jacksonville) T4. Alabama 4 (2018) 2105, 2016 and 2017 - in which the team progressed to match play. Those six match 4 Cole Bradley (Purdue) T4. Oregon 4 (2017) play appearances rank tied for the second-most nationally with Texas, one behind 5 AJ Ott (Colorado State) T4. Southern Cal 4 (2017) Oklahoma State. In those six match play appearances, the program has amassed 11 6 Tristan Mandur (Utah) T4. UCLA 4 (2015) total matches (fourth nationally) and five victories (sixth nationally). T4. Georgia Tech 4 (2014) Illinois’ best team postseason finish came under Small in 2013 when the Illini finished as the national runner-up at the Capital City Club in Atlanta, Ga. In addition to that championship match appearance against Alabama, the Illini played in the quarter- NCAA INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS (SINCE 2001 finals in 2011 and 2014, and made three-consecutive semifinal appearances in 2015, 2016 and 2017.