Came Out Swinging

OLYMPIA FILEDS, Ill. - Stanford men's golf began its 2022-23 campaign on Friday and owns a one-shot lead over host Illinois following the first round of the Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club. The Cardinal shot a tournament-record, 10-under 270, one of only three programs under par in the 15-team field. The previous tournament record was 271.

Junior Karl Vilips started the season strong and is tied for the lead following a 5-under 70. Vilips' six birdies on Friday was tied for the most in the field with co-leader Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Illinois). Vilips was 4-under on the par 4s and 2-under on the par 5s during the first round. Two strokes back of Vilips is classmate Michael Thorbjornsen, whose 3-under 67 has him tied for third with Illinois' Tommy Kuhl. Thorbjornsen had three birdies and 15 pars on the day.

Rounding out the Cardinal scorers on Friday were senior Barclay Brown and fifth year Ethan Ng. Brown is tied for fifth following a 2-under 68, in which he tallied four birdies against two bogeys on the front side, then parred all nine holes after the turn. Ng is tied for 13th following an even-par 70 in which he had three birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine to overcome a 2-over front. 

As a team, the Cardinal led the field on the par 4s at 3-under on the day and was second in the field on the par 5s at 4-under Friday. Stanford was steady, leading the field with 63 pars, while its 16 birdies was tied for second. 

Playing in a field featuring 10 Top-25 teams, including No. 2 North Carolina, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Texas and No. 11 Illinois, the Cardinal will need to maintain its strong play throughout the 36 holes over the weekend. 
 

Fighting Illini Invitational (Olympia Fields Country Club, par 70)