Why does Mike Small’s Illinois program contend year after
year for a Big Ten title, winning the last four in a row and the champion nine
times in the last 10 years?
A lot of reasons, but one might be because he makes a point
of taking his team to an event like The Macdonald Cup last weekend, played on
The Course at Yale, a classic course that is among the very best campus layouts
in the country.
The event is named for Charles Blair Macdonald,
the golf course architect who created this 6,810-yard, par-70 gem. It is the
kind of course that reminds Small’s players why they fell in love with the game
in the first place and that’s a good thing in the midst of a college season
that can turn into a grind.
You could argue that a national power like Illinois
doesn’t really belong in an event comprised largely of Ivy League schools, a
couple of small Northeastern colleges and, from what I can tell, a team from
Scotland. But it was a golf experience as much as it was a golf tournament and
that will pay dividends for an Illinois team that graduated two of its
stalwarts in Nick Hardy and Dylan Meyer.
It looks like the Illini are just reloading as they cruised
to a seven-shot victory, but host Yale, led by a spectacular performance by
individual champion James Nicholas, a senior from Scarsdale, N.Y., put up quite
a fight.
Illinois opened with rounds of 8-under-par 272 and 9-under
271 in Saturday’s double round and finished up with a 2-over 282 in Sunday’s
final round for a 15-under 825 total.
Yale, which captured the Ivy League title last spring on
another pretty neat golf course, Stonewall’s Old Course, had a pair of 7-under
273s Saturday and trailed the Illini by just three shots heading into the final
round. The Bulldogs backed off with a 6-over 286 Sunday to finish seven shots
behind Illinois at 8-under 832.
Princeton, which opened with a solid 2-under 278, was
another 15 shots behind Yale in third at 7-over 847. The Tigers finished up
with a 2-over 282.
Stirling University, which, from I can gather from the
Internet, looks like it might be one of the top European college teams out of
Scotland, was a shot behind Princeton in fourth at 8-over 848. Stirling opened
with an 8-over 288, bettered par with a 2-under 278 Saturday afternoon and
finished up with a 2-over 282.
Boston College took fifth at 21-over 861, 13 shots behind
Stirling, after a final-round 292. Penn opened with a 4-over 282, added a 294
and struggled to a 300 in the final round to finish seven shots behind Boston
College in sixth at 28-over 868.
The Quakers’ Ivy League rival Harvard, with another solid
showing from freshman Brian Isztwan, a Penn Charter product, was a shot behind
Penn in seventh in the 14-team field at 29-over 869. The Crimson had rounds of
288 and 287 in Saturday’s double round before finishing up with a 294.
Bryan Baumgarten, a junior from Granite Bay, Calif., led the
team effort for Illinois, sharing runnerup honors in the individual standings
with teammate Adrien Dumont de Chassart, a freshman from Belgium who was
competing as an individual, at 8-under 202, seven shots behind Nicholas.
Baumgarten fired a pair of 3-under 67s in Saturday’s double
round before finishing up with a 2-under 68. Dumont de Chassart had the best
round of the day in Sunday’s final round, a 5-under 65, probably earning some
consideration to be part of the first five for the Illini the next time they
play.
Giovanni Tadiotto, a junior from Belgium, finished among the
group tied for sixth at 3-under 207, including Saturday rounds of 1-under 69
and 2-under 68.
Michael Feagles, a junior from Scottsdale, Ariz., gave the
Illini a third team finisher inside the top 10 as he landed among the group
tied for ninth at 2-under 208, which included a sparkling 4-under 66 in
Saturday’s opening round.
Brendan O’Reilly, a sophomore from Hinsdale, Ill., finished
in the group tied for 12th at even-par 210, including a 3-under 67
in the afternoon round Saturday. Luke Armbrust, a freshman from Wheaton, Ill., finished
alone in 22nd at 6-over 216, including a 1-under 69 that was the
Illini’s fourth team round in the 60s in Saturday’s second round.
Small got another strong showing from a player competing as
an individual as freshman Tommy Kuhla, another Illinois kid from Morton,
finished alone in 19th at 2-over 213, including a 2-under 68 in
Saturday afternoon’s round.
The one thing about a classic course like The Course at
Yale, if you play it the right way, it will yield a low score … or two. Such
was the case Saturday as Nicholas, who is having a terrific fall, fired a pair
of 6-under 64s in a daylong display of golf brilliance on his home course.
A winner earlier this fall in The Doc Gimmler at Bethpage
State Park’s Red Course on Long Island, Nicholas cooled off with a 3-under 67 in
Sunday’s final round for a remarkable 15-under 195 total.
Stirling’s Robert Foley finished alone in fourth, a shot
behind the Illinois duo of Baumgarten and Dumont de Chassart at 6-under 204.
After opening with a 69, Foley matched Nicholas’ second-round 64 before
finishing up with a 1-over 71.
Boston College’s Matt Naumec, a senior from Wilbraham, Mass,
finished alone in fifth at 5-under 205, firing a 5-under 67 in the final round.
Joining Tadiotto in the trio tied for sixth at 3-under 207
were Brown’s Drew Powell, a sophomore from Bangor, Maine and Harvard’s Rij
Patel, a junior form Hunt Valley, Md. Powell sandwiched a 1-over 71 with a pair
of 2-under 68s while Patel, after matching par with a pair of 70s in Saturday’s
double round, fired a final-round 67.
Penn was led by Carter Thompson, a senior from Tallahassee,
Fla. who finished in the group tied for 15th at 2-over 212. Thompson
opened with a 2-under 68 before adding rounds of 71and 73. Josh Goldenberg, a senior from Scarsdale,
N.Y., finished among the group tied for 20th at 5-over 215. After
solid rounds of 70 and 69 Saturday, Goldenberg cooled off with a final-round
76.
Zareh Kaloustian, a senior from Sherman Oaks, Calif.,
finished among the group tied for 29th at 7-over 217 after a
final-round 73. Jason Langer, a freshman from Boca Raton, Fla., finished in the
group tied for 56th at 227 after a final-round 78 and K.J. Smith, a
senior from Atlanta, rounded out the Penn lineup as he finished among the group
tied for 62nd at 229 after a final-round 80.
Princeton got a solid showing from junior Vinay Ramesh, the
2014 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Pennsbury. Ramesh finished among
the group tied for 36th at 221 after a final round of 1-over 71.
Also in that group at 221 was Harvard’s Isztwan, the
Inter-Ac League champion as a freshman in 2014 and the league’s top player
during the regular season in his last two seasons at Penn Charter. Isztwan had
solid rounds of 72 and 73 in Saturday’s double round before finishing up with a
76.
Another PIAA champion of recent vintage, Bucknell sophomore
Chris Tannabe, the 2016 PIAA Class AA champion as a senior at Quaker Valley,
finished among the group tied for 26th at 218. Tannabe opened with an
even-par 70 and added a 2-over 72 before finishing up with a 76.
Joining Tanabe at 218 was Bucknell teammate Peter Bradbeer,
a Friends Central product and winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s
Patterson Cup in 2017. Bradbeer, a junior, matched Tannabe’s opening-round 70
and added a 76 before finishing up with a 72.
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