Chambana Sun

The No. 5 Fighting Illini men's golf team finished eighth after the final grouping of competitors completed play Sunday morning at the 18th annual OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club.

Due to the threat of inclement weather on Sunday, Saturday's schedule was adjusted to allow for 36 holes of continuous play, and 75 of the 78 players in the field completed the 54-hole event before play was suspended due to darkness.

Arizona State's Jose Luis Ballester (-10) and Georgia Tech's Benjamin Reuter (-8) closed out the event in first and second place, respectively, alongside playing partner Ian Gilligan of Florida who tied for 17th at even-par. Ballester is the second Sun Devil to earn medalist honors at Olympia Fields, and the first since Niklas Lemke won the inaugural tournament in 2006. Ballester's final score of 200 (-10) also tied the event record set by Alabama's Davis Riley in 2017.

No. 17 Georgia Tech (-12) secured its second OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational title, edging out No. 2 ASU (-11) by one stroke. No. 16 North Carolina and No. 18 Oklahoma State tied for third at 1-under, followed by No. 11 Texas (+3) in fifth. No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 22 Stanford tied for sixth, one stroke ahead of the Illini.

All five members of the Illini lineup, and a pair of true freshmen playing as individuals in their collegiate debuts, completed their weekend of action on Saturday night.

Junior Ryan Voois shot three consecutive rounds of 1-under 69 to finish in a tie for sixth to pace the Orange and Blue lineup at 207 (-3). It marked the first time in Voois' career that he has shot three rounds under par in a single event, and his 207 (-3) is just two strokes shy of his career-low 54-hole total set in his T10 finish last May at the NCAA Stanford Regional.

Sophomore Max Herendeen moved up a spot to T17th on Sunday morning, tying Gilligan, Arizona State's Connor Williams, and Alabama's Jonathan Griz with an even-par 210. Herendeen carded his lowest round of the weekend in Saturday afternoon's finale, posting a 1-under 69 that included a stretch of four straight birdies on Hole 9-12.

Freshman Trey Marrion finished 5-over in a tie for 37th after rounds of 71-73-71 in his first action at Olympia Fields. Senior Jackson Buchanan tied for or55th at +9 (219), and sophomore Ethan Wilson (+16) finished tied for or69th.

Jake Birdwell and Joseph Buttress each made their collegiate debuts, finishing T60th and or75th respectively as individual competitors.

Up next for Illinois is a trip to Lake Forest to play in the Windon Memorial Classic hosted by Northwestern at Conway Farms Golf Club from Sept.29-30.

For more Fighting Illini men's golf news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniMGolf on social media: X | Instagram | Facebook.

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