No. 12 Illini completes fall schedule at Steelwood Collegiate Invitational

LOXLEY, Ala. – The Fighting Illini men’s golf program, ranked No. 12 in the latest NCAA men’s golf team rankings and No. 13 in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Division I Coaches Poll, returns to the Gulf Coast for the second consecutive season to close out the fall Steelwood Collegiate Invitational schedule.

The Illini, who placed second at the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational in Saucier, Mississippi, on Monday, will play their final three rounds of the fall slate on Saturday and Sunday at Steelwood Country Club, hosted by South Alabama.

THE SETTING
The Steelwood Collegiate Invitational is played at the par-72, 7,032-yard Steelwood Country Club. Steelwood Golf Course was designed by former U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate and was ranked “one of the top five private golf courses in Alabama” by GolfWeek in 2019.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The 54-hole tournament will be played over two days, with 36 holes scheduled for Saturday and the final 18 for Sunday. Saturday’s Rounds 1 and 2 begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. CT. Round 3 opens on Sunday, with tee times on holes 1 and 10 beginning at 7:40 a.m. CT.

THE FIELD
The tournament field features 14 programs vying for the title, including eight programs ranked in the top 80 of the NCAA men’s golf team rankings. The No. 12 Illini face: No. 62 Clemson, No. 64 Kennesaw State, No. 72 Chattanooga, No. 73 Nebraska, No. 78 Kansas State, No. 79 Troy and No. 80 and host South Alabama. The rest of the field includes Kenttucky (84), Rice (88), East Carolina (101), Memphis (100), Louisiana Tech (121) and Virginia Tech (190).

FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP
No. 1: Jackson Buchanan
No. 2: Max Herendeen
No. 3: Trey Marion
No. 4: Ethan Wilson
No. 5: Ryan Voois
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Person: Jake Birdwell

ILLINI AT THE STEELWOOD COLLEGIATE INVITATION
The Steelwood Collegiate Invitational is new to the Illini program this year. No member of the Illini roster has participated in the event before.

LIVE SCORING
Live scoring for the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational will be available via Clippd Scoreboard. A summary and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com after each game day.

NEXT
The Illini will return to the course in early 2025 for the annual Tinervin Cup exhibition at Coral Creek Golf Club in Placida, Florida. The team will officially open the spring schedule February 13-15 at John A. Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii ‘i.

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