Illini men’s golf continues stretch of dominance
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (BVM) — Mike Small has done something that very few college golf coaches have ever been able to accomplish, but he is still chasing some things.
Small, the head men’s golf coach at Illinois, has led the Fighting Illini to 13 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances — a difficult feat for any school. Especially a northern school with inconsistent spring weather.
This season, Illinois competed in match play for the first time since 2017 after finishing fifth in the four-round stroke play portion of the NCAA Championships. But Small’s program is still trying to reach the top of the mountain after falling in stroke play to Oklahoma.
“They wanted to win this week,” Small said on June 1. “They really believed they could win. Guys, we haven’t talked much about it, but this match was close. It was about as close as you could get, really. The three matches we lost all ended on [hole] 17. We had two big wins and three matches got to 17? That’s as close as it gets, really, against the No. 1 team in the country.”
The Illini got wins from their top player Michael Feagles and No. 2 Adrien Dumont de Chassart, but Jerry Ji and Tommy Kuhl each fell by one hole. Giovanni Tadiotto lost by two holes.
The Illini have now made it to match play seven times during the last 10 NCAA Championship appearances. Only two other Midwest programs have reached match play since 2011 — Big Ten rival Ohio State (2011) and Kent State in 2012.
“We want to win as much as anybody,” Small said. “We want to win a national championship. We’ve done everything but do that when you get into this format — and you saw it again — it’s such a small margin of error, it’s such a sprint. I’ve said it a million times. It is what it is. You have to hit the shots, you have to be ready to play and you have to be on point and take care of it. It doesn’t happen sometimes … If you sit and think about it and roll it over in your head all the time you go crazy. You just kind of chalk it up to maybe just the nature of the beast and keep fighting hard every time.”
What makes match play so difficult is that even an under-par round — like Tadiotto’s — sometimes isn’t enough. Oklahoma’s Jonathan Brightwell was just too much, birdieing five of the eight holes he played on the front nine.
“We were ready to go today,” Small said. “We were one up in four of the five matches after the first hole. I think obviously that was a great statement. We got up early for a few matches. Obviously Adrien just rolled all day and played solid. We did play Illinois golf.”
Illinois is set to lose a pair of seniors — Feagles and Tadiotto — but return a talented-rich group including Ji, Dumont de Chassart and Kuhl. All three played in match play, which will help prepare them for next season when Illinois hopes to continue its national–leading streak of appearances in the NCAA Championships.
