Nov. 13, 2009

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois men's golf has completed its fall season ranked ninth in the nation according to both the Golfstat and Golfweek computer rankings. The fall saw the Illini win two tournaments, finish second in another and compete relatively well in two tournaments with highly-ranked fields.

The wins came at Wolf Run, in which the Illini defeated four Big Ten teams, and at the Windon, in which Illinois defeated five other conference foes. Oklahoma State finished the fall ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek ranking followed by Stanford, Florida, TCU, Arizona State, Florida State, Texas A&M, Washington, Illinois and South Carolina. In all, Illinois faced 12 of the top 18 teams in the country and finished ahead of eight top-25 teams in tournaments.

"I think last fall we caught people off guard," said head coach Mike Small. "Winning Olympia Fields last year caught a lot of people's attention. This year we came into it with a little different set of expectations. To be ranked that high in the computer polls shows that it was a successful fall, but there are some still things we need to improve."

Junior Scott Langley is ranked 17th individually according to the Golfweek computer with 10 wins against the top 25 individuals. Langley had a 71.60 scoring average and finished in the top 12 in four of the five tournaments, including a second at Wolf Run and a third at the Windon.

"Scott played well," Small said. "He didn't have any wins, but he had solid finishes. He has set himself up for a good year where the sky is the limit."

Sophomore Luke Guthrie made some strides as well, reaching as high as 37th in the computer before finishing 58th according to Golfweek. Guthrie had three top-10 finishes, tying for fifth at Windon with a final round 69, and ranking second on the team with a 72.80 stroke average.

"Luke demonstrated he is a tough competitor," Small said. "His putting and short game were pretty strong this fall, but his ball striking needs to get more consistent."

The season saw the debut of another promising young player in freshman Ross Frankenberg. The Barrington, Ill., native competed with the Illini team twice and as an individual two other times. He tied for 15th in his first tournament at Wolf Run.

"Ross got a good feel for college golf," Small said. "He played in two tournaments with the team, which I think exceeded his expectations. The future is bright for him and I think he can use it to his advantage."

The three other upperclassmen had their share of success as well. Junior Chris DeForest tied for fifth at the D.A. Weibring Invitational; senior Zach Barlow tied for sixth and the fall finale at Turtle Bay; and senior Matt Hoffman tied for ninth at the Windon Memorial.

"It seemed we were always one score away from having something special this year," Small said. "Our depth wasn't as strong as in past years. If we don't bring our game to the table we've proven we can be a good team, but not a great team. However, if we can get clicking on all cylinders, we could really do some damage in the spring."