AUGUSTA, Ga. – The No. 10-ranked Fighting Illini men's golf team closed play at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational on Sunday, finishing in eighth place with a three-round total of 840 (-24).
The Illini posted their lowest team score of the weekend in Round 3, a 10-under 278, moving two spots up the leaderboard over the final 18 holes.
Jake Birdwell, competing in the Illini lineup for the first time this season, led the way for the Orange and Blue in a tie for 11th. The sophomore shot 10-under to finish one stroke away from his third straight top 10, capped by a bogey-free 66 (-5) on Sunday. Birdwell tallied scores of 70 (-2) and 69 (-3) in Rounds 1 and 2, respectively, to record three straight under-par rounds for the first time this season. The finish is Birdwell's first top 15 as a member of the lineup since his T3 as a freshman at last year's Big Ten Championship at Baltimore Country Club.
Behind Birdwell, junior Dane Huddleston and senior Ryan Voois tied for 31st at 212 (-4). Voois posted an even-par 72 in Round 3, while Huddleston closed his weekend with a 73 (+1).
Junior Max Herendeen and sophomore Freddie Turnell tied for 45th. Turnell climbed 15 spots up the leaderboard in Round 3 with a 68 (-4) to finish at 215 (-1) for the tournament. Herendeen also posted 1-under for the weekend with a Round 3 score of 1-under 71.
North Carolina's Sihan Sandhu (-15) claimed medalist honors in the third playoff hole against Georgia Southern's Thomas Horne.
No. 16 UNC also won the team title at 54-under over No. 6 Oklahoma State (-39) and No. 14 Pepperdine (-38). No. 4 LSU (-32) finished fourth, four shots ahead of No. 23 Georgia and No. 25 Notre Dame in a tie for fifth.
Up next, the Illini close out the regular season at Indiana's Hoosier Collegiate, April 18-19, at The Pfau Course in Bloomington, Indiana.
