2016 Illini Golf - Road to the Championship

#1      

illinifaninwi

I
DeForest, Wisconsin
illinifaninwi
The Illini opened up the spring season with another victory at the Tinervin Cup, 7.5-1.5.

Illinois State is nowhere near the level of the Illini but it's always good to get some golf in prior to the tournament schedule. Illinois dominated the fourball but struggled some in singles with Danielson losing and Hardy with the tie.

The Illini are national title contenders again; however, the play of Thomas Detry is the key. He was up and down far more than typically expected in the fall. If he's on, and the rest of the guys do what they can, this may be the year the Illini win the national championship.

Next year will be another Big Ten title contending team but replacing Danielson and Detry will be very difficult. That said, the incoming recruiting class is very good.
 
#2      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
3 Illini named to the Ben Hogan Award watch list.

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• A total of 21 universities are represented on the watch list. Three schools—Illinois (3), Southern California (2) and Wake Forest (2)—have multiple honorees. It is the second straight year that Illinois has led the nation with three members.

• This is the 11th consecutive year that Stanford has had a player named to the watch list, the longest active streak by any school. The next longest active streaks are owned by Alabama (9) and Illinois (7).

• Fifteen of the 25 golfers are appearing on the watch list for the first time. Those previously named are: Charlie Danielson (2015), Thomas Detry (2014, 2015), Rico Hoey (2015), Beau Hossler (2015), Lee McCoy (2015), Maverick McNealy (2015), Jordan Niebrugge (2014), Jon Rahm (2015), Robby Shelton (2014, 2015) and Will Zalatoris (2015).
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#4      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
Interesting thing I saw on twitter, the B1G Match Play Championship is being played this week in Florida, Illinois isn't participating. Guess they decided it wasn't worth it, or maybe they couldn't due to playing in the East Lake Cup last fall?
 
#5      

illinifaninwi

I
DeForest, Wisconsin
illinifaninwi
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
Interesting thing I saw on twitter, the B1G Match Play Championship is being played this week in Florida, Illinois isn't participating. Guess they decided it wasn't worth it, or maybe they couldn't due to playing in the East Lake Cup last fall?
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I was wondering if they got rid of the Match Play. Interesting for sure. Typically the Illini don't fare all that well at the early season Big Ten tournament.
 
#10      

FeelYourPaign

FeelYourPaign
So Cal
FeelYourPaign
Riviera is a pretty spectacular course. It is set in a ravine in a gorgeous part of LA, with homes up on the edge that look like small hotels. The 18th hole in particular is a really difficult par 4, uphill drive to a blind fairway. And its narrow. But almost all of them hit the fairway, then play an iron into a sloping green. Really hard, they make it look easy.

I'll be looking for the orange and blue men on the course for sure.
 
#15      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
LOS ANGELES -- They've held this cool little deal here at Northern Trust Open the past couple of years called the Collegiate Showcase. On Monday of tournament week, a college golfer, a PGA Tour pro from the same school and two alums compete at Riviera Country Club. There are a few different competitions, but here's the best one: The college player with the lowest score earns himself a spot in the tournament field, competing against the world's best professionals.

This year's winner was Charlie Danielson, a 22-year-old senior at the University of Illinois, who posted a 3-under 68 to get into a tourney featuring such names as Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy and even Jordan Spieth.

Sounds like a dream come true, huh?

You don't know the half of it. Danielson isn't some country-club kid who spent his childhood playing golf year-round at one of those fancy academies that tries to groom young junior players into pros.

No, he comes from Osceola, Wisconsin, which -- surprise, surprise -- isn't exactly a hotbed for up-and-coming golfers. It's a 2,500-person town with one stoplight, right near the Minnesota border, where Danielson learned to play the game from his father, Craig, at a 6,200-yard course called Crooked Creek.

ESPN on Charlie D
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#17      

illinifaninwi

I
DeForest, Wisconsin
illinifaninwi
Wow. That's a fantastic article. It's amazing the level of success that Illinois is achieving in golf. Here's hoping the women can follow suit.
 
#18      

breadman

B
Herndon, VA
breadman
Charlie got a shout out from the GOLF Channel announcers to open the show.
No tv time yet. He is 3 back at 5 under.
 
#23      

icengineer

I
Southern Illinois
icengineer
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
He's T13 right now. Coverage on Th/Fri tends to focus on the "featured groups", i.e. Bubba and Rory today, Spieth yesterday. The leaderboard doesn't mean much until Saturday.
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I suppose that's true. Oh well, hopefully he can move up a notch or two and get some weekend coverage.
 
#25      

FeelYourPaign

FeelYourPaign
So Cal
FeelYourPaign
Walking along with Charlie today. Small gallery for this group, but it's 50% for Charlie. Parents, golf guys and alums. He's 2 under after 4 with a5 footer to save par on 5. Great fun