Veteran Illinois team comes on strong to claim the title in Southern Highlands Collegiate

   When the Big Ten gathers at Galloway National Golf Club at the Jersey Shore for the conference championship in April, Illinois will be favored to win the team title for an eighth straight time.

   Sure, the rest of the Big Ten isn’t always drawing the most talented players to its cold-weather campuses, but it’s not so much that the rest of the Big Ten is that bad, it’s that head coach Mike Small’s program is that good.

   Armed with a lineup that included three fifth-year players, Illinois staged a furious rally in the final round to pull out a two-shot victory over a typically loaded field in the Southern Highlands Collegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev.

   The Fighting Illini entered Tuesday’s final round in fourth place, 10 shots behind Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina with reigning national champion Texas, out of the Big 12, in second place and perennial West Coast Conference champion Pepperdine in third place.

   But getting a 5-under-par 67 over the 7,510-yard, par-72 Southern Highlands layout from Adrien Dumont de Chessart, a fifth-year player from Belgium and No. 15 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and a 4-under 68 from another fifth-year guy, Tommy Kuhl of Morton, Ill. and No. 83 in the WAGR, Illinois put together a closing round of 11-under 277 to finish with a 21-under 843 total and capture their fourth title of the season and second straight of the spring portion of the wraparound 2022-2023 campaign.

   Illinois, which moved up a spot in the Golfstat rankings from No. 7 to No. 6 in the aftermath of its victory, had opened with a 3-under 285 before adding a 7-under 281 in Monday’s second round.

   North Carolina, which dropped a spot in the Golfstat rankings from No. 4 to No. 5 in the aftermath of the Southern Highlands, had opened with a sizzling 17-under 271 and had maintained its lead with a 3-under 285. But the Tar Heels struggled a little in the final round with a 4-over 292 to fall back to fourth place with a 16-under 848 total.

   This Texas team bears little resemblance to the one that claimed a national championship last spring, but in Austin, they just reload. The Longhorns only trailed North Carolina by four shots heading into the final round after adding a solid 11-under 277 in Monday’s second round to their opening round of 5-under 283.

   Texas backed off a little in the final round with a 3-under 285, but its 19-under 845 total was still good enough to earn the Longhorns runnerup honors and improve their spot in the Golfstat rankings from No. 16 to No. 11.

   Texas was led by Christiaan Maas, a freshman from South Africa and No. 26 in the WAGR who was the runnerup in the individual standings with a 10-under 206 total that left him three shots behind the individual winner, Yuxin Lin, a senior at Florida from China and No. 42 in the WAGR.

   Lin threw down right from the start when he unfurled an 8-under 64 in the opening round. He added a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round, but couldn’t shake Maas, who added a 69 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 6-under 66 and trailed Lin by just a shot going into the final round.

   Lin, who lost in a playoff to Texas’ Parker Coody in the Southern Highlands in the ill-fated spring of 2020 when he was a freshman at Southern California, made sure this one didn’t slip away as he closed with a 3-under 69 for a 13-under 203 total. Maas finished up with a 1-under 71.

   You’d think by now everybody would understand that Pepperdine just wants to win the NCAA Championship every year. Two years ago, the Waves did just that. Last spring, Pepperdine reached the semifinals at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. before falling to Arizona State.

   Pepperdine opened with a solid 10-under 278, remained in contention with a 2-under 286 and closed with a 6-under 282 that left the Waves a shot behind Texas in third place with an 18-under 846 total, moving up to No. 8 in the Golfstat rankings from No. 14.

   Pepperdine was probably more excited about finishing two shots ahead of North Carolina in the final standings. You wouldn’t think there’d be a rivalry between a school from the California beachfront and one from Tobacco Road, but then …

   Pepperdine did edge the Tar Heels, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring. And one of those points for Pepperdine came from Dylan Menante, who then decided to take the extra year of eligibility he had coming to him from that ill-fated spring of 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic brought a premature halt to the college golf season, at … wait for it … North Carolina.

   Menante of Carlsbad, Calif. is No. 8 in the WAGR and probably was trying a little too hard to beat his old pals at Pepperdine as he finished alone in 53^rd place. Wouldn’t be a huge shock to see Menante and North Carolina square off against Pepperdine in a match at Grayhawk again in a few months.

   Reigning Big 12 champion Oklahoma finished a shot behind North Carolina in fifth place with a 15-under 849 total, the Sooners closing strong with a 9-under 279. Oklahoma opened with a 1-under 287 and added a 5-under 283 in Monday’s second round.

   Oklahoma, which dropped a spot in the Golfstat rankings from No. 9 to No. 10 following the Southern Highlands, was in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk last spring, too, falling to Arizona State in the quarterfinals. The Sooners have designs on getting right back there.

   Florida, behind individual champion Lin, got a share of sixth place in the elite 15-team field with North Carolina’s ACC rival, Georgia Tech, as each landed on 10-under 854, five shots behind Oklahoma.

   The Gators, out of the Southeastern Conference, sandwiched an even-par 288 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 5-under 283s and dropped two spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 11 to No. 13 following their tie for sixth place.

   Georgia Tech matched par in the opening round with a 288 and added a 6-over 294 in Monday’s second round before posting an explosive 16-under 272, the best team score of the day, in the final round. The Yellow Jackets coming off a runnerup finish by a shot to No. 1 Vanderbilt in the Watersound Invitational at the Shark’s Tooth Golf Club in Panama City Beach, Fla., fell from No. 8 to No. 12 in the Golfstat rankings following its showing in the Southern Highlands.

   Kuhl led the way for Illinois as his final-round 68 enabled him to finish in a tie for third place with Texas A&M’s William Paysse, a senior from Bolton, Texas, both landing on 8-under 207, a shot behind Maas. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Kuhl posted a sparkling 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round before contributing that 68 to the final-round surge to the team title by the Fighting Illini.

   Dumont de Chassart matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round before contributing his 67 to Illinois’ strong finish as he ended up in a tie for 17^th place at 4-under 212.

   Seems like a long time ago when Dumont de Chassart captured a share of the Big Ten individual crown as a freshman in 2019 with a final round of 4-under 66 at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, an A.W. Tillinghast masterpiece. The second round of that Big Ten Championship weekend was played in what can only be described as a wind storm as it blew at least 30 mph with higher gusts all day.

   Backing up the top two for the Fighting Illini was Jackson Buchanan, a sophomore from Dacula, Ga. who finished among the group tied for 24^th place with a 1-under 215 total. Buchanan sandwiched a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 1-under 71s.

   Piercen Hunt, a junior from Hartland, Wis., was another shot behind Buchanan in the group tied for 28^th place with an even-par 216 total. Hunt opened with a 2-under 70 and added a 3-over 75 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 71.

   Rounding out the Illinois lineup was its third fifth-year player in the lineup, Matthias Besard, like Dumond de Chassart a Belgian, who finished in the group tied for 35^th place with a 1-over 217 total. After opening with a 3-over 75, Besard got it going in Monday’s second round, carding a 4-under 68, before finishing up with a 74.

   Texas A&M’s Paysse was the picture of consistency, rattling off three straight 3-under 69s to join Kuhl in the tie for third place at 9-under.

   North Carolina had two of the four players tied for fifth place at 8-under 208 in David Ford, a sophomore from Peachtree Corners, Ga. and No. 6 in the WAGR, and Austin Greaser, a senior from Vandalia, Ohio and No. 5 in the WAGR. Pretty sure that makes the Tar Heels the only team trotting out two of the top six amateur players in the world in their lineup.

   Ford carded back-to-back 3-under 69s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 70. Greaser, who made a valiant run to the final of the 2021 U.S. Amateur at iconic Oakmont Country Club before falling to James Piot, was right there with Lin, the eventual individual champion, as he opened with a sizzling 8-under 64 and added a 70 in Monday’s second round before backing off with a 2-over 74 in the final round.

   Another member of that foursome at 8-under was Pepperdine’s William Mouw, a senior from Chino, Calif. and No. 11 in the WAGR. Mouw was in the lineup for both the Waves’ run to the national championship in 2021 and to the semifinals at Grayhawk last spring.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Mouw registered a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round before matching the low round of the day, a sparkling 7-under 65, in the final round.

   Rounding out the foursome at 8-under was host UNLV’s Caden Fioroni, a junior from San Diego who opened with a solid 5-under 67 and matched par in Monday’s second round before closing with a 3-under 69.

   Oklahoma’s Patrick Welch, a redshirt senior from Aliso Viejo, Calif. and No. 33 in the WAGR, headed a group of three players tied for ninth place, each landing on 7-under 209. Welch, the defending individual champion in the Southern Highlands, added a 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 69 before finishing with a 1-over 73.

   Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht, a junior from South Africa and No. 19 in the WAGR, matched Mouw’s 7-under 65 for the low round of the day in the final round to join the group tied for ninth place. Lamprecht, who finished in a tie for second place in the Southern Highlands a year ago, had opened with a 5-under 67, but struggled to a 77 in Monday’s second round.

   Rounding out the trio tied for ninth place at 7-under was Texas’ Tommy Morrison, a freshman from Dallas who was competing as an individual. Morrison, who earned himself some consideration for a promotion to the Longhorns’ first five, closed with a 2-under 70 after carding back-to-back 3-under 69s in the first two rounds.

   Have to note the presence of Roberto Nieves in the Pepperdine starting lineup. Nieves, a fifth-year player from Miami, Fla., was a four-year standout at Delaware who joined the Pepperdine program for his extra year of eligibility due to COVID.

   Nieves was solid at Southern Highlands, opening with a 2-under 70 and matching par in Monday’s second round with a 72 before closing with a 2-over 74 to finish among the group tied for 28^th place with an even-par 216 total.