2017-18 Illini Golf
Hardy, Meyer and Stricker all finish at -10 (t43) for the John Deere Classic.
Illini sticking together
Illini sticking together
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Hardy, Meyer and Stricker all finish at -10 (t43) for the John Deere Classic.
Illini sticking together
If the first two can emulate the third, we'll be watching them for a long time
ILLINI IN NE
- Omaha,Ne.
Hardy, Meyer and Stricker all finish at -10 (t43) for the John Deere Classic.
Illini sticking together
And Coach Small with his 3rd top ten in 4 starts on the Champions at the Constellation Senior Players Championship.
He is 59th in the Schwab Cup with $175,000.
Not bad for a side gig
Do folks on the Champions tour typically have sponsors?
Deleted member 645583
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Guest
It's kinda funny: US golfers complaining about course conditions at US Open, but I don't hear a peep from them at Carnoustie! And course condtions there are utterly ridiculous and far worse - thanks to the weather. The pundits talk about a heat-wave in Scotland: it was 70 there today! Problem: no rain. Play it as it lies.
Thomas Pieters is in the mix!
Man, I'll take 70 degrees anytime in summer In Illinois!
Thomas Pieters is in the mix!
Man, I'll take 70 degrees anytime in summer In Illinois!
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FlyNavy
- Los Angeles
Pieters makes the cut, currently T40 and 7 shots off the lead. Hopefully he can make a run this weekend!
In the Web.com tour, Luke Guthrie made a hole-in-one on the second-to-last hole to make the cut! He sits at 76th on the money list (top 75 make the Web.com finals), so a strong weekend would definitely be a big boost for him. Unfortunately Langley and Campbell missed the cut.
I will say that I was extremely impressed with the Golf Channel coverage at The Open. They covered it from beginning to end Thursday and Friday, and stated that they covered every player. I didn't get to catch most of it, but I enjoyed what I was able to watch. I only hope that NBC covers it the same way this weekend. It should be entertaining, quite a crowd on top of the leaderboard. I just hope Pieters pulls off a great round tomorrow!
In the Web.com tour, Luke Guthrie made a hole-in-one on the second-to-last hole to make the cut! He sits at 76th on the money list (top 75 make the Web.com finals), so a strong weekend would definitely be a big boost for him. Unfortunately Langley and Campbell missed the cut.
I will say that I was extremely impressed with the Golf Channel coverage at The Open. They covered it from beginning to end Thursday and Friday, and stated that they covered every player. I didn't get to catch most of it, but I enjoyed what I was able to watch. I only hope that NBC covers it the same way this weekend. It should be entertaining, quite a crowd on top of the leaderboard. I just hope Pieters pulls off a great round tomorrow!
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FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
No Illini in the hunt in The Open, but what a battle!! 11 guys within two strokes on the back none on Sunday. Tiger, Spieth, Rory and more. Love it
FlyNavy
- Los Angeles
Definitely the best Sunday for the majors this year, it was pretty much anybody's Open until the last few holes with Rory and Rose sitting in the clubhouse at -6 (just imagine those two and maybe Tiger and Jordan in a 4-hole playoff). But then Molinari decided he wanted it more, and props to him for going bogey-free on a day when Jordan shot 76 and most of the field struggled. He definitely earned the title!
Pieters stayed steady for a T28, looked better than he had for most of the year. He should still qualify for the PGA Championship, and will need a strong showing to get into the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Elsewhere D.A. is sitting T20 during a rain delay at the Barbasol, and Guthrie struggled in the weekend at Web.com, currently T67. D.A. has the benefit of a 2-year exemption through next season, but Guthrie needs to get one more good tourney under his belt to get into the Web.com Finals.
Pieters stayed steady for a T28, looked better than he had for most of the year. He should still qualify for the PGA Championship, and will need a strong showing to get into the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Elsewhere D.A. is sitting T20 during a rain delay at the Barbasol, and Guthrie struggled in the weekend at Web.com, currently T67. D.A. has the benefit of a 2-year exemption through next season, but Guthrie needs to get one more good tourney under his belt to get into the Web.com Finals.
FlyNavy
- Los Angeles
I totally missed this one, but Dylan got a last-minute sponsor exemption for the Canadian Open. He had a rough start with 4 bogeys in the first nine but rallied to get to +1. Still work to do to make the cut, but in decent shape. Strick is currently T15 at -4, and D.A. is +2.
In other action, Brian Campbell is -5 through 11 in Web.com Tour. Nick Hardy at +1 thru 6. Detry is E in the European Tour in Germany, and Lipparelli is T8 in the Euro Challenge Tour.
In other action, Brian Campbell is -5 through 11 in Web.com Tour. Nick Hardy at +1 thru 6. Detry is E in the European Tour in Germany, and Lipparelli is T8 in the Euro Challenge Tour.
Deleted member 645583
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Guest
Sorry Dylan and Nick didn't make the cuts. Welcome to the big time guys. I know you will do well in the long run.
I was commenting about lousy scheduling here in US with Women's senior, John Deere, Champion's event in Chicago all the same week. But now you've got Senior men at St. Andrew's, women at Scottish Open the week after The Open at Carnoustie! What gives?
Go Illini!
I was commenting about lousy scheduling here in US with Women's senior, John Deere, Champion's event in Chicago all the same week. But now you've got Senior men at St. Andrew's, women at Scottish Open the week after The Open at Carnoustie! What gives?
Go Illini!
FlyNavy
- Los Angeles
Missing cuts is all part of the gig, even the top guys miss them once in a while (e.g. Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas at the Open). I really believe Tiger's streak of 142 cuts made will go down as his greatest achievement, even if he breaks Jack's 18 Majors won. Going 7 years without having a bad weekend is mind-blowing. Here's a good quick read on the top 6 "made cuts" streak: https://www.thoughtco.com/most-consecutive-cuts-made-on-the-pga-tour-1565924
Succeeding in the PGA Tour takes dedication, and there are quite a few guys on tour that don't make it until their mid-thirties; Jimmy Walker comes to mind. Just for the Illini, we have four guys in recent years (Langley, Guthrie, Campbell and Affrunti) that played on the Tour within the last five years but have lost their cards. Langley will get his back this year and the others have work to do, but these ups and downs are so common among ~80% of the golfers on the tour. It's definitely a heck of a ride that Dylan and Nick are in for...Dylan should be in for the Web.com finals, which will give him a shot at a Tour card or full Web.com status. Nick will need to go to Q-school unless he plays really well in the next few weeks.
BTW both Dylan and Nick received exemptions for the Barracuda Championship next weekend in Reno, good luck to them both!
Deleted member 645583
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You are verbose, NAVY, and so am I ! But keep it up; more is better. I'm with you ! I look forward to your posts!
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Deleted member 645583
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It appears Baumgarten, Feagles and Gio missed the cut at Western Amateur. Too bad. Hardy and Meyer missed too last weekend. That's golf, unfortunately.
FlyNavy
- Los Angeles
I should implement the modified Stableford when I play golf. That way a double, triple, and quad bogey all look the same on my scorecard. Definitely would come in handy!
As far as Nick and Dylan, it seems pretty common to get the recent college grads into PGA and Web.com events with exemptions (there have been other big names throughout the NCAA as well). It seems kind of like sink-or-swim - if they put together a few good finishes, they get to forego Q-school.
Dylan has done well enough were he will almost certainly get into the Web.com finals - he had an eagle to finish +12 today, so he'll get even more points. If he plays well there, he can get a Tour card. If not, he can still get Web.com status with a couple decent finishes. Nick needs a big finish to make the finals; short of that, he'll have to go to Q-school.
The Web.com finals will be fun for Illini fans - Langley, Campbell, and Meyer will be there - Guthrie is on the cusp, hopefully he gets in as well. The finals is a set of four tournaments in August/September, and I think all the events are on Golf Channel.
As far as Nick and Dylan, it seems pretty common to get the recent college grads into PGA and Web.com events with exemptions (there have been other big names throughout the NCAA as well). It seems kind of like sink-or-swim - if they put together a few good finishes, they get to forego Q-school.
Dylan has done well enough were he will almost certainly get into the Web.com finals - he had an eagle to finish +12 today, so he'll get even more points. If he plays well there, he can get a Tour card. If not, he can still get Web.com status with a couple decent finishes. Nick needs a big finish to make the finals; short of that, he'll have to go to Q-school.
The Web.com finals will be fun for Illini fans - Langley, Campbell, and Meyer will be there - Guthrie is on the cusp, hopefully he gets in as well. The finals is a set of four tournaments in August/September, and I think all the events are on Golf Channel.
ILLINI IN NE
- Omaha,Ne.
Coach Small at 3 under and in a T19th at the 3M Championship. Looks like he is on his way to another nice check Sunday.
Meyer will play the weekend at the Barracuda at +12 as mentioned already.
Hardy is on the cutline at +7 with 3 to play. Finish strong Nick.
Meyer will play the weekend at the Barracuda at +12 as mentioned already.
Hardy is on the cutline at +7 with 3 to play. Finish strong Nick.
A big part of keeping Small at Illinois and helping him to be successful is giving him the freedom to play in pro events. It helps him stay on top of his game so that he can best help his players and it pays big dividends in recruiting.
I'm sure there are some times when Small must make tough decisions when it comes to playing in tournaments.
And, technically, Small is not paid by taxpayers, but by athletic department revenue and donations.
FlyNavy
- Los Angeles
I disagree. The Western Amateur is not an NCAA event, so Coach wouldn't be able to do much outside of give advice between rounds. Additionally it's an individual event as opposed to the NCAA events which are all team-based. He'll probably still give them plenty of feedback, but this gives the players a chance to develop as individuals before rejoining the team when they get back to campus.
In 2017, Illinois Athletics had over $97 million in revenues
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/
He is not obligated to coach his players in the off-season in non-NCAA events. If he did it in 2015, that's great, but he didn't have to.
I don't know how any Illinois fan can criticize Mike Small. He is possibly the greatest coach in the history of the University (certainly top-5). Whatever he is doing works.
FlyNavy
- Los Angeles
It's hard to question Coach's commitment; he went to Dubai to support Pieters (an alum, not a current player) a couple years back. When a player plays a non-Illini event such as the western amateur, being there to support is nice but not an expectation in my opinion. Plus the kids need to learn how to get by without the parents around. Agree to disagree, I guess...
Dylan's putting together a solid round today, currently +6 on the day (+18 overall in the modified Stableford) and top 25 w/ two par-5's to go. Keep going low, I mean high, Dylan!
It seemed like you were. Nevertheless, you have the right to your opinion, but my guess is you won't find many people to agree with you here