LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Illinois men's golf team, ranked No. 12 nationally in the NCAA Division I team rankings and No. 6 in the GCAA's Bushnell/Golfweek coaches poll, returns to the course this week to face a formidable field at the 2026 Southern Highlands Collegiate. The three-day event, hosted by UNLV, will be played Sunday through Tuesday, March 1-3, at Southern Highlands Golf Club.
The Illini are coming off a team win at the Hal Williams Collegiate, behind a medalist performance from senior Ryan Voois.
THE SETTING
The Southern Highlands Collegiate is hosted at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev. The course, co-designed by the legendary Robert Trent Jones Sr., and his son Robert Trent Jones Jr., features the natural beauty of the desert, including mountainous terrain, to create sweeping elevation changes, beautiful ponds and waterfalls, deep-faced bunkers and challenging, bent grass greens. The Par-72 course spans 7,510 yards.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The 54-hole tournament will be a five-count-four format played over three days, with 18 holes slated for each day of competition. Tee times are set, off Nos. 1 and 10, beginning daily at 11 a.m. CT/9 a.m. PT.
THE FIELD
The Southern Highlands Collegiate field includes 15 of the nation's top programs – all ranked within the top 50 – vying for the title. The 12th-ranked Illini are one of nine top-25 teams in the field, alongside No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Texas, No. 8 Pepperdine, No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 18 New Mexico, and No. 25 San Diego State. Texas A&M (29), UCLA (31), host UNLV (33), Georgia (34), Washington (35) and South Carolina (46) are also in action.
FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP
No. 1: Ryan Voois
No. 2: Dane Huddleston
No. 3: Trey Marrion
No. 4: Freddie Turnell
No. 5: Max Herendeen
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Individual: Ethan Wilson
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring for the Southern Highlands Collegiate will be available on Clippd Scoreboard. A Recap and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play.
ILLINI AT THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS INTERCOLLEGIATE
The Illini have played in the Southern Highlands Collegiate in each of the four previous seasons, highlighted by a team win in 2023. Illinois also competed in the tournament five times from 2015 through 2019. The Orange and Blue have finished in the top 10 as a team each year.
Senior Ryan Voois and junior Max Herendeen will each make their third start at Southern Highlands. Voois finished T34 at 220 (+4) as a sophomore 2024, and last year he was the Illini's top finisher at T21 with a 5-over 221. Herendeen tied for 15th with an even-par 216 as a freshman, and last year finished two strokes off Voois' pace in a tie for 30th.
Sophomore Trey Marrion is set for his second visit to Southern Highlands. As a freshman last season, he carded a 225 (+9) to tie for 39th.
Junior Ethan Wilson will tee off as an individual, his second time playing in the event. Last year, he finished tied with Marrion for 39th, vaulting 22 spots up the leaderboard in Round 3 with a closing 70 (-2).
Junior Dane Huddleston and sophomore Freddie Turnell, both in their first season with the Illini, will compete in the event for the first time.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini head to Southern California where they will tee off at the Pauma Valley Invitational hosted by Loyola Marymount, March 16-18, for the second consecutive year. The event will be contested at Pauma Valley Country Club, located approximately 35 miles east of the site of the NCAA Championship at OMNI La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad.
