VIDEO: J Leman’s level of concern for Illini football through two games
CHAMPAIGN — Illinois men’s golf coach Mike Small admits he didn’t quite know what he had entering Illinois’ season-opening tournament. Most thought the Illini would remain pretty darn good because, well, Illinois golf is consistently great under Small’s leadership.
But with three All-Big Ten performers to replace — including All-Americans Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Tommy Kuhl — Small didn’t know what to expect entering last weekend’s Sahalee Players Championship just outside of Seattle (Wash.).
Yet, against a loaded field that included nine other teams ranked in the preseason coaches poll, the new-look Illini made a statement that Illinois golf still has a high standard — and that they can meet it.
The No. 9-ranked Illini won the tournament by eight strokes over No. 2-ranked Arizona State and were the only team to finish under par (-1).
“Not a lot of expectations, but was hoping for the best,” Small said. “By gosh, we played really solid Illinois golf and got a lead early and held on [Sunday] at the end and played really strong golf coming in with a lead. It’s hard to play with a lead with any players but with new players on a hard golf course like that was always tricky, and I was curious of how we’d hold up.
“I’m thrilled to death. I wouldn’t say I was surprised but I’m really, really positively encouraged after what I saw,”
Small said he was a bit perplexed about his team after three weeks of intense competition and challenges during practice leading into Sahalee. Some of the players he expected to play well didn’t. Some of the players he expected to struggle played well. He didn’t know if that was a positive or negative.
But with three unproven players at this level in the lineup, five Illini golfers — including one individual — finished in the top-25 individually.
“I found out we were deeper than I thought we were potential-wise,” Small said. “But again, it’s just one event. In this sport, you can’t judge anybody by one event. I don’t really build rosters or tab players how they are based on just one event. I like a body of work, a résumé, so that has yet to be seen. But I learned that maybe we’re deeper.”
Illini true freshman Max Herendeen (-5) nearly won his first collegiate event after firing an impressive 8-under 64 in the second round. The top-25 recruit took runner-up honors after falling in a playoff to Arizona State’s Preston Summerhays.
Small has never been afraid to thrust young, talented golfers into big roles immediately, and he’s not shocked Herendeen played well. Now, Small said, Herendeen’s challenge is to play well consistently.
“He knows he has things to learn, but he’s very talented,” Small said. “Dylan Meyer played for us a few years ago and was the number two amateur in the world when he left here. As a freshman, he won Olympia Fields, and he thought he had the whole thing figured out his first college event, and he soon realized he didn’t. So with Max, he’s just got to stay with what he does, and he’s a very mature golfer. He knows the game and he knows his game. It’s going to be interesting to see how he plays this week and the rest of the fall. I think he’ll do fine, but he’s going to have bumps along the way. Not to think too high, not to think too great, not to think too low and just stay steady and let it turn out.”
The Illini also got promising early results from its two graduate transfer additions. Wright State transfer Tyler Goecke, who was a two-time Horizon League Golfer of the Year, was in the lineup and tied for 21st with a 5-over 221. Loyola (Ill.) transfer Timmy Crawford, a two-time all-conference performer, competed as an individual and also tied for 21st with a 5-over 221. The two seniors give Illinois added Division-I experience and depth.
“They’re both different types of players,” Small said. “Tyler and Timmy are different players, but I think they’re hungry. They like the atmosphere. They like being on a bigger stage. They both had success at the mid-major level. They’re both good players but they both know they got to get better. We’ve talked about it, and I think they respect us when we say that from a positive point. I think there’s potential there. I think there’s potential there to help us. To what level, we don’t know. …But the potential is there for them to be good.”
Senior Piercen Hunt, the Illini’s No. 5 golfer last season, had the Illini’s worst score (12-over 228) after carding an 81 in the final round, but sophomore Ryan Voois had a strong showing in his first crack at the lineup, carding a 5-over 221 to finish tied for 21st.
Jackson Buchanan, the Illini’s lone returning All-Big Ten performer, also lived up to increased expectations in his first round as the team’s top golfer, finishing tied for fifth with a 1-over 217, buoyed by an impressive 6-under 66 in the opening round. The junior earned All-America honors last season after finishing runner-up in the 2023 NCAA Championship last May.
Small said Buchanan is currently learning how to handle those outside expectations internally and not let them affect his play. A top-five finish is a pretty solid start.
“A year ago, nobody knew Jackson. Then he finishes second in the NCAAs and is low in the stroke play portion of the USA Am and now everybody knows Jackson,” Small said. “I think he’ll be the first one to admit that he’s not living in the present as much as he needs to be. He knows expectations. He’s seen what his results have done for him, and he’s living in the past a little bit thinking he has to live up to those so there’s more pressure on himself. He’s thinking in the future a little too much. So that’s normal growth of a young player, but he’s so talented. I know he’s smart. He’s coachable, but he’s fighting himself in certain areas.”
External expectations for Illinois men’s golf may not be as high this season after losing so much talent and experience to graduation. But Small — who has led the Illini to eight straight Big Ten Championships (13 of last 14) and eight NCAA match play appearances since 2011 — doesn’t lower his standard.
And his new-look team showed him in its first competition, maybe a bit to Small’s surprise, that it might have what it takes to uphold those high expectations.
“They have no choice. It is what it is, and we tell them that,” Small said. “They signed up for this stuff. We didn’t twist their arm to come here. We didn’t make them. We didn’t draft them into the NFL. They’re here because they want to be here, so there is expectations. We talk about that and embrace them. We’ll find out. But we’re not going to compromise. We’re not going to settle. We’re not going to lower our expectations because we have a new team or a young team or players that may not be ready for it. …Sink or swim. We’re not changing. They’re either with us or they’re not.”
Small’s new-look Illini will have another chance to prove itself against top competition this weekend as it hosts the 17th annual OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club in the south Chicago suburbs. The loaded 15-team field features 14 teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the coaches poll, including the last five national title winners: Florida (2023), Texas (2022), Pepperdine (2021), Stanford (2019), and Oklahoma State (2018).
“The field last week was strong. This will be even stronger on a major championship venue up in Olympia Fields starting on Friday and it ends on Sunday,” Small said. “We’ll see if we can go up and see if we can do something again and maybe shock the world again.”
