Day 1 of Spring Collegiate sets up Illini men’s golf for success

By Jack Larson

Contributing Writer

Illini men’s golf has a comfortable lead of 18 strokes after the first two rounds of the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate at Atkins Golf Club last Saturday.

The No. 3 Illini are three strokes over par as a team after the first two rounds of the tournament. Fifth-year Adrien Dumont de Chassart leads the field with a 138 after turning in a 66 in the second round.

Dumont de Chassart was one stroke over par after round one, delivering one birdie and two bogies in the round. His second-round 66, formed by five birdies and an eagle, is the tourna- ment’s best score thus far. Nebraska’s Gentry Scheve was the only other player to break 70, with a first-round 69.

Junior Piercen Hunt is not far behind Dumont de Chassart and is tied for fourth place with a score of 144 (+2). Hunt got better as the day progressed, following up his firstround 74 with a 70 in the second round.

Behind Illinois in the standings is Loyola Marymount with +21. Tony Hendricks led the way for the Lions with a 144, tied with Piercen Hunt for fourth place.

Fifth-year Tommy Kuhl was three under par after making the turn in the first round but struggled on the back nine to finish at one over on the round. In the second round, Kuhl flipped things around, turning in a scorecard of three strokes over par on the front nine and one under on the back.

Sophomore Jackson Buchanan struggled in the first round after going seven strokes over par on the back nine for a first-round 78. The second round went smoothly for Buchanan, as the sophomore turned in a score of even par. He is currently tied for 18th place with 149 strokes (+7).

Fifth-year Matthis Besard scored a 73 in both the first and second rounds. With a score of 146 (+4), Besard is tied for ninth place.

Senior Jerry Ji is tied in 26th place, fourth place out of the individuals.

With a 75 in the first round followed by a 76, Ji finished with 151 on the day.

Freshman Ryan Voois had the best first-round score for the Illini, turning in a 70. Despite that, went +7 in the second round, with two double bogeys in the first three holes.

Senior Nico Lang had Illinois’ highest score at 159, which is tied for 51st place. Lang’s second-round score of 83 took him back 22 places in the standings.

The tournament will conclude on Saturday, which is scheduled to start at 8:24 a.m. Illinois will be paired with Ball State and Northwestern.