Illini chase sixth Big Ten title in seven years

    Writing from Champaign
    Wednesday, April 22, 2015

    Illinois had won five straight Big Ten men’s golf championships entering last year’s conference tournament. The streak ended when Minnesota, unheralded, knocked the Fighting Illini off their lofty perch and into second place, four strokes behind the Golden Gophers.
    This year could see a return to the top for Illinois. The squad was ranked No. 1 nationally for much of the season – it enters the tournament No. 3 – and is coming off a 32-stroke rout of the field at last weekend’s Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue. The Illini finished 35-under, with Louisville the only other team under par.
    Talent is the first reason for the optimism. The Illini are loaded, including senior Brian Campbell and freshman Nick Hardy, both of whom played in last year’s Western Amateur, plus juniors Charlie Danielson, who tied for the individual conference title last year, and Thomas Detry.
    Then there’s freshman Dylan Meyer, the fifth member of the travel squad, a.k.a. the secret weapon. Meyer tied for first in the Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields in the fall, and took third at Purdue. Even better, he’s provided a detailed scouting report to his teammates on the tournament site, Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Ind., near Evansville.
    Meyer hails from Evansville. He’ll be working at the club in the summer. He knows Victoria National, a Tom Fazio design ranked 45th among modern American courses by Golfweek, inside and out.
    “It sits in an old coal mine,” Meyer said at the team’s final practice before leaving for Evansville. “You’ve got to drive your golf ball out there. You’ve got to play it smart, use good course management. It’s a very good course for this team. We know how to plod our ball around and know what it takes to play well at this golf course.”
    His knowledge, Meyer believes, gives the Illini the edge this weekend.
    “It definitely is an advantage there,” Meyer said. “There are some blind shots out there that you don’t really know if you don’t play there. There are some spots where you think, ‘I can push it up on this par 5,’ where you really can’t. You don’t have to hit a lot of drivers on this golf course.”
    The Illini are deep, if the Big Ten’s player of the week award is any indication. Detry and Danielson shared it for their Purdue exploits, where they tied for first individually, while Campbell has won it twice, including the April 8 award. Detry’s scored five awards this season, Danielson two. No player at any other school has won more than once.
    All this success makes head coach Mike Small confident, but not complacent.
    “I think we’re the team to beat, but anybody can win this thing,” Small said. “It’s golf. Look at last year. It was a good wake-up call to us, because we won (NCAA) regionals, beating USC and Cal the next week. Hopefully, it’s still evident.”
    The team’s strength is.
    “We’ve been ranked No. 1 a lot of the year, have three returning All-Americans (Campbell, Danielson and Detry), and two quality freshmen playing well,” Small said. “And our scoring averages are unreal. On paper, it’s pretty good.”
    The only important paper beginning on Friday is the scorecard.

    – Tim Cronin