QUICK FACTS AND SCHEDULE
QUICK FACTS - ILLINI AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
- NCAA National Championship Appearances: 28
- Consecutive NCAA Appearances: 13
- NCAA Top-5 Finishes: 9
- Most Recent Finish: T27th (2019)
- NCAA Individual Champions: 2 (2010, Scott Langley; 2012, Thomas Pieters)
- NCAA Match Play Appearances: 6
STROKE PLAY SCHEDULE - MAY 28-31, 2021 - 72 HOLES
- Friday: Round 1 (18 holes) - 8:10 a.m. CT / 6:10 a.m. MST
- Saturday: Round 2 (18 holes) - 8:10 a.m. CT / 6:10 a.m. MST
- Sunday: Round 3 (18 holes) - 8:10 a.m. CT / 6:10 a.m. MST - Top 15 Teams Advance
- Monday: Round 4 (18 holes) - 12 p.m. CT / 10 a.m. MST - Top 8 Teams Advance
- Live Coverage: Golf Channel - 4-8 p.m. CT / 2-6 p.m. MST
MATCH PLAY SCHEDULE - JUNE 1-2, 2021 - 3 ROUNDS
- Tuesday: Quarterfinals - 8:20 a.m. CT / 6:20 a.m. MST
- Live Coverage: Golf Channel - 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. CT / 9-11:30 a.m. MST
- Tuesday: Semifinals - 2:45 p.m. CT / 12:45 p.m. MST
- Live Coverage: Golf Channel - 4-8 p.m. CT / 2-6 p.m. MST
- Wednesday: Championship - 3:35 p.m. CT / 1:35 p.m. MST
- Live Coverage: Golf Channel - 4-8 p.m. CT / 2-6 p.m. MST
The Fighting Illini men's golf team, No. 8 in the latest Golfstat team rankings, continues its postseason run, May 28 - June 2, at the 2021 NCAA Championship, The Orange and Blue are coming off a second-place finish at the Stillwater Regional to advance to their 13th-consecutive - and the program's 28th overall - NCAA Championship berth
THE SETTING
The 2021 NCAA Championship is hosted by Arizona State University at Grayhawk Golf Club's Raptor Course in Scottsdale, Ariz. The course, designed by Tom Fazio, is considered to be one of the finest golf courses in Scottsdale and is listed among the best public golf courses in Arizona by Golfweek and Golf Magazine. It is one of only two Scottsdale golf courses to host a PGA TOUR event – the Frys.com Open, 2007-2009. Other tour-sanctioned tournaments hosted on the Raptor Course include the inaugural Williams World Challenge, the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf and Waste Management Phoenix Open pro-ams.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The 2021 NCAA Championship will be played over six days from Friday, May 28 through Wednesday, June 2. Friday through Monday will feature four rounds of stroke play - a cut to 15 teams will take place following Sunday's third round (54 holes) - to determine the individual national champion. The top eight teams will advance to Tuesday morning's match play quarterfinals. Semifinals matches are scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, when the final four teams will compete for a place in the match play championship set for Wednesday afternoon.
THE FIELD
The 30-team field for the 2021 NCAA Championship includes the top-five finishers at each of six regional sites contested May 17-19. The Fighting Illini enter play at the 2021 NCAA Championship ranked as the No. 8 overall seed in the field after beginning their postseason run as the No. 2 seed in the Stillwater Regional where they finished second behind host Oklahoma State, the No. 3 overall seed in the championship round. Florida State, the winner of the Tallahassee Regional, ranks as the top overall seed, followed by Oklahoma which finished fourth in the Albuquerque Regional. No. 4 Clemson tied for fourth in the Kingston Springs Regional, No. 6 Texas claimed the Noblesville Regional title, five shots ahead of No. 6-seeded North Carolina. Wake Forest, which placed third in the Cle Elum Regional, is seeded just ahead of the Illini at No. 7, while Pepperdine - which finished one shot behind the Demon Deacons - is just behind the Orange and Blue at No. 9. NCAA Championship host Arizona State, coming off a second-place finish at the Albuquerque Regional - rounds out the top-10 seeds.
FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP
No. 1: Adrien Dumont de Chassart
No. 2: Michael Feagles
No. 3: Jerry Ji
No. 4 Giovanni Tadiotto
No. 5: Tommy Kuhl
Alt: Piercen Hunt
ILLINI NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The Fighting Illini have competed for the national title 28 times - 27 since the NCAA era officially began in 1939 - and have established the program as one of the top postseason performers in collegiate golf over the last 21 years under the guidance of head coach Mike Small.
Since Small took the reins of his alma mater prior to the 2000-01 season, the Orange and Blue have competed in 16 of 20 NCAA Regionals, and have advanced to the NCAA Championship round on 15 occasions. Put another way, nearly 94 percent of the Illini's postseason runs under Small have resulted in the team advancing to the NCAA Championship. Even more impressive, since 2008 the Illini have secured 13-consecutive NCAA Championship berths, the second-longest streak in the country (one behind Texas).
Entering the 2021 NCAA Championship, and since the current Stroke Play/Match Play format was adopted in 2009, the Fighting Illini boast six seasons - 2011, 2013, 2014, 2105, 2016 and 2017 - in which the team progressed to match play. Those six match play appearances rank tied for the second-most nationally with Texas, one behind Oklahoma State. In those six match play appearances, the program has amassed 11 total matches (fourth nationally) and five victories (sixth nationally).
Illinois' best team postseason finish came under Small in 2013 when the Illini finished as the national runner-up at the Capital City Club in Atlanta, Ga. In addition to that championship match appearance against Alabama, the Illini played in the quarterfinals in 2011 and 2014, and made three-consecutive semifinal appearances in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Under Small's guidance, the Fighting Illini have also produced a pair of individual NCAA champions. Scott Langley claimed the first national title for the Illini in 2010 at the Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn. Two years later, Thomas Pieters captured medalist honors at the 2012 NCAA Championship at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Illinois and Oklahoma State are the only programs to produce two individual national champions in the past 20 seasons.
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring for the NCAA Championship will be available on GolfStat.com for both the stroke play and match play. A recap and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of competition.
GOLF CHANNEL COVERAGE
The GOLF Channel will provide pre-tournament, live and post-round coverage of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships beginning on May 31 (4-8 p.m. CT) when the individual national champion is crowned. Golf Channel's live coverage will ALSO include all three rounds of the team match-play tournament on Tuesday, June 1 (11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. CT and 4-8 p.m. CT) and Wednesday, May 29 (4-7 p.m. CT)..
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