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Head Coach Mike Small has brought national recognition to the Illinois golf program in his decade plus as head coach. Small has guided the Illini to three straight Big Ten championships and his team to 21 team titles in the past four seasons.
In 2011, the Illini completed their best NCAA finish since 1941, reaching the NCAA match play quaterfinals and tying for fifth overall. Over the past four years, Illinois has consistently been ranked in the top 10 in the country, finishing seventh in the 2011 Golfweek computer rankings. Illinois is one of only seven schools to reach the NCAA finals each of the past four years.
Small's players have had individual success as well. Joe Affrunti, who lettered for Illinois in 2004, earned his PGA Tour card this year. Recent graduates Scott Langley and Chris DeForest qualified for the U.S. Open in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
Langley has been Illinois' most visible player since Steve Stricker. His run to low amateur at the U.S. Open came two weeks after winning the NCAA championship. Langley also won the clinching match at the Palmer Cup, reached the quaterfinals at the U.S. Amateur and was one of three players on the United States team at the World Amateur Team Championships in Argentina.
Two of his players, Zach Barlow (2008) and Luke Guthrie (2009) won Illlinois State Amateur titles while playing at Illinois.
Small's players have also had academic success. In 2011, every upperclassman had a 3.0 grade-point average or higher while Langley earned the Big Ten Medal of Honor. Combined with the construction of the state-of-the art Demirjian Practice Facility in 2007, it is the unique combination of having a respected teacher/coach and a current playing professional wrapped up in one man that has lifted Illinois into national contender.
Small has the distinction of playing on a Big Ten championship team and coaching one. Small was a member of the 1988 team that claimed the title. Small has been named Midwest Regional Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year four times in his career, including the past three years from 2009-11 following three Big Ten team titles and consecutive NCAA Championship appearances.
As a former full-time professional, he can share with aspiring tour players what it takes to play at the next level. As someone who still competes and succeeds at a handful of tour events each year, he has had a chance to rub elbows with the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Coaching Success
Illinois reached the NCAA Championships for the sixth time in the last nine years under Mike Small in 2011. Here are some other highlights of his 11 seasons as head coach:• Coaching NCAA champion Scott Langley
• Coaching six All-Americans, including Langley, a second team honoree in 2009 and first team honoree in 2010 and Guthrie, a first team honoree in 2011
• His teams have won 20 All-Big Ten and 30 Academic All-Big Ten honors.
• Scheduling his club against some of the best teams in the country. Illinois defeated 19 of the top 25 teams during the 2010-11 season.
Year-by-Year Highlights:
• In 2009-10, Scott Langley won the NCAA title while the Illini advanced to the NCAA for the third straight year. The Illini ended the season ranked in the top 10 after its second straight Big Ten crown.• In 2008-09, Illinois won the Big Ten championship, advanced to the NCAA finals and claimed titles in seven tournaments overall, including the prestigious Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational.
• During the 2007-08 season, Illinois recorded the lowest individual (63, freshman Chris DeForest) and team (272) round in school history. The Illini advanced to the NCAA Championships, finishing 17th. Scott Langley was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year
• In 2006-07, senior Kyle Hosick placed 10th at the Big Ten Championships and was named a Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar.
• Small directed a young Illinois team to a solid year in 2005-06. The Illini recorded four Top-5 finishes as six different players in the lineup combined for a total of 11 individual Top-10 finishes. Patrick Nagle earned All-Region and All-Big Ten honors while Mark Ogren also earned all-conference accolades.
• He led his squad to four Top-3 finishes in 2004-05, including runner-up honors at the Bruce Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational, a tournament that featured nine Big Ten teams.
• During the 2003-04 season, Illinois finished as runner-up at the Big Ten Championships for the third straight year and made its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Central Regional.
• In 2002-03, the Illini recorded the lowest 72-hole team score in school history, finishing as runner-up at the Big Ten Championships for the second year in a row. Illinois went on to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Central Regional, marking the UI's best performance ever at regionals. Small was recognized for Illinois' stellar season by being named the Eaton Golf Pride Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
• In 2001-02, he directed the resurgence of the Illinois program in which he was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. The Illini finished as Big Ten runners-up and placed fourth at NCAA Regionals. Illinois qualified for the NCAA Championships, finishing 18th.
Small remains competitive
When Mike Small returned to Champaign, Ill., in June of 2000 to take over as head coach, it came following a decade of golfing professionally, including five years spent on the PGA Tour and what is now the Nationwide Tour.Small continues to compete on a limited basis in PGA tour events. Although not playing full-time, he does so with some impressive results. When he competes, he shows off his Illinois colors and attracts many proud alumni in the gallery.
Small's success has meant great publicity for Illinois golf. The summer of 2007 saw arguably the biggest of those successes when he won the low club professional at the 2007 PGA Championship and shared the award stand with its champion Tiger Woods on national television. Four years later, he again earned low club professional honors at the 2011 PGA Championship, where he has honored alongside PGA champion Keegan Bradley on CBS.
Year-by-Year Synapsis of Small's Playing Success
2011: Earned low club professional honors for the second time at the PGA Championship, which he played for the seventh time in his career.2010: Won his record tying third PGA Professional National Championship and second in a row. He also claimed his record ninth Illinois PGA title and eighth straight with a convincing 11-stroke victory at Olympia Fields. Small also earned his third PGA Professional Player of the Year honor. 2009: Small won the PGA Professional National Championship for the second time in his career. He made the cut in the 2005 and 2007 PGA and missed the cut by a stroke in 2006.
2008: The summer of 2008 saw Small win the Illinois PGA title for the sixth straight year and seventh overall, both event records.
2007: Small won the PGA Professional of the Year award for the second straight year and was honored as the low club professional at the PGA Championship. He claimed the Illinois PGA championship for a record sixth time and fifth in a row, and won his fourth straight Illinois Open.
He also won the Illinois Match Play Championship and qualified for his third U.S. Open.
2006: Small was named the PGA Professional Player of the Year by the PGA of America after another brilliant summer. He made the cut in five of nine PGA Tour events, highlighted by a season-high finish of 38th at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. He also finished fourth at the PGA Professional National Championship, earning a berth to his third consecutive PGA Championship.
In addition to his success nationally, Small also won Illinois Open and Illinois PGA titles for the second straight year. He remains the only golfer ever to win both titles in the same year, a feat he has now achieved four times. It was his third Illinois Open victory and fourth consecutive IPGA title, as well as his fifth all-time.
2005: The summer proved to be one of the most spectacular in Small's professional career. In June, he won the PGA Professional National Championship, held at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C., earning an exemption for the second consecutive year to the PGA Championship, as well as earning six exemptions for PGA Tour events in 2006.
Small then reached a professional pinnacle in August when he made the cut at the PGA Championship at historic Baltusrol in Springfield N.J., marking the first time in four career tries that he advanced to the weekend in a major.
Small continued his summer run by winning his third consecutive Illinois PGA Championship, marking the second time in three years that he won both Illinois Open and IPGA titles in the same year. His dramatic run concluded in September when he led a 10-member U.S. team across the Atlantic to compete against Great Britain and Ireland in the 22nd PGA Cup, a club professional version of the Ryder Cup.
Following the national club pro title, Small made the cut at the PGA Tour's Western Open for the third straight year. He then won his second Illinois Open Championship, storming back from a five-shot deficit to win the title on the strength of a final-round 67.
2004: Small repeated as the Illinois PGA Champion, claiming his third IPGA title in four years. Small finished 7-under par at Royal Melbourne and broke the course record with a 65 during round two.
He then went on to take runner-up honors at the PGA Professional National Championship, missing medalist honors by just one stroke after shooting 11-under par at the Longaberger Course in Nashport, Ohio.
For the second straight summer, Small made the cut at the PGA Tour's Western Open. He tallied three straight rounds under par at Cog Hill's Dubsdread Course, and had a hole-in-one during the second round of play when he aced the 180-yard hole No. 2. Small was listed on the leaderboard entering Sunday's final round, in sixth place, before finishing tied for 27th.
Small's memorable summer culminated in August when he traveled to Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., to compete in his first-ever PGA Championship, which also marked his third career appearance in a major.
2003: Small made an amazing return to competitive golf in the spring of 2003 after an arm injury and subsequent rehabilitation kept him from playing for nearly a year. He won the 2003 Illinois PGA and Illinois Open titles, becoming the first golfer ever to win both tournaments in the same year. His win at the Illinois PGA qualified him for the Western Open. Small made the cut at the prestigious PGA Tour event, finishing in 43rd place at 3-under par. He also finished fourth at the 2003 Northern Club Pro to qualify for the 2004 PGA Professional National Championship.
2001 & 2002: In the summer of 2002, he finished second at the Illinois PGA Championship. In the summer of 2001, Small won the Illinois PGA title, placed second in regional qualifying for the 2002 PGA Professional National Championship and set the course record at Stone Creek, carding an 8-under par 64.
College and Professional Days
Small was a letterwinner on the Illinois squad from 1985-88. He was a member of the 1988 Big Ten Championship team and finished second individually in that tournament behind teammate and current PGA Tour member Steve Stricker. Small was named to the All-Big Ten squad as well, earning first team NCAA Region IV honors. He earned medalist honors in two tournaments during his senior year at Illinois, winning both the Butler National Intercollegiate and the Michigan State Spartan Classic. Small joined the professional ranks in 1990. He played on a number of tours before joining the PGA Tour in 1995. He won two Nationwide Tour events in 1997, the Monterrey Open and the Cleveland Open. Small finished in the top 15 on the Nationwide Tour earnings list and earned his PGA Tour card in 1998. His top PGA finish was a tie for ninth at the 1998 Bell Canadian Open.Personal Information
A native of Danville, Ill., Small has returned to the area where he grew up. Small was a standout at Danville High School where he won four letters in golf and two in basketball. Before becoming an Illini, Small won the Junior Masters in 1984. He went on to have a successful career for the Fighting Illini before receiving his bachelor's degree in business administration from Illinois in 1988.Small's father, Bill, was the captain of the 1963 Big Ten Champion Fighting Illini basketball team. Bill earned All-Big Ten accolades and won three varsity letters during his Illini career, which spanned from 1961-63.
Small's brother, Andy, was also an award-winning Fighting Illini athlete. Andy was a member of the 1990 Big Ten Champion Illinois baseball squad. He won four varsity letters as an infielder.
Small, his wife Ann, and their two sons, Will and Wyatt, reside in Champaign.
Updated March 2012
