STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford men’s golf begins the 2025-26 campaign this weekend, heading back to Olympia Fields, Ill. for the Fighting Illini Invitational, hosted by the University of Illinois from Friday, September 19 to Sunday, September 21.
THE COURSE » The Fighting Illini Invitational continues its run at Olympia Fields Country Club's North Course, a par-70, 7,353-yard layout that has been ranked multiple times in the "Top 100 Greatest Courses" in America by Golf Digest.
The course has previously hosted several premier golf events, including the U.S. Amateur (2015), U.S. Open (1928, 2003), PGA Championship (1925, 1961), and BMW Championship (2020, 2023).
THE FIELD » This season’s 15-team field boasts 10 teams ranked in the Bushnell/Golfweek Division I preseason Top 25 heading into the weekend.
The team’s partaking in this weekend’s festivities include hosts Illinois, Alabama, Arizona State, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Loyola Marymount, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Historically, since the tournament’s inception, five of the last seven NCAA Champions have competed at Olympia Fields while 10 of the last 18 have played in the event.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT » The 54-hole tournament will be played under the play five, keep four format over three days. Tee times for Rounds 1 and 2 will begin at 8 a.m. CT, while Sunday's final round tee times are set for 7:30 a.m. CT.
THE CARDINAL LINEUP » Stanford rolls out three players who made an appearance at last season’s event with Jay Leng, Nathan Wang and TK Chantananuwat slotting 1-3 for the Cardinal. Dean Greyserman slots in at the No. 4 spot heading into the opening round while highly-touted freshman Edan Cui will make his collegiate debut at the No. 5 slot.
STANFORD AT THE FIGHTING ILLINI INVITATIONAL » The Cardinal has historically found success at Olympia Fields, having the most individual medalists of any program in tournament history with six: Patrick Rodgers (2011-12), Cameron Wilson (2013), Maverick McNealy (2014-15), and Michael Thorbjornsen (2022).
Stanford has also brought home a pair of team titles in the event, winning the tournament in 2011 and 2022 as one of only three teams to win multiple Fighting Illini Invitational titles. Jay Leng finished as the top Cardinal in his collegiate debut in last season’s event, placing T-14 at 1-under, 209 as the Cardinal placed tied for 6th out of 15 teams in 2024.
LIVE SCORING » Live scoring for the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational will be available on Scoreboard by Clippd with live coverage of the event on Twitter and Instagram at @StanfordMGolf.
ALL-ACC NATHAN » In his first season on The Farm, Nathan Wang had a stellar season culminating in the Cardinal’s first-ever ACC accolade with the junior being named to the All-ACC Team. Wang earned four top-20 finishes during the season and led the Cardinal with a 70.97 scoring average in 30 competitive rounds. Placing T-17 at Stanford’s debut in the ACC Championships, Wang earned his best finish of the season at the Western Collegiate placing T-5 at 5-under, 205, while also aiding the Cardinal to postseason golf for the 26th-consecutive season.
FIRST YEAR SUCCESS » In their first season on The Farm, TK Chantananuwat and Jay Leng has tremendous success for the Cardinal. Chantananuwat finished the season with five top-20 finishes including a season-best eighth-place finish at The Western Intercollegiate as the Cardinal took runners-up at its annual appearance at Pasatiempo. Leng also had a respectable freshman year, earning four top-20 finishes with his best outing being a T-12 finish at The Goodwin. Both players were two of only three players (Nathan Wang) to compete in every competition last season and the only freshman to do so.
THE SUMMER OF DEAN » Dean Greyserman enters his senior season on The Farm following an outstanding summer season back on the east coast. Greyserman, who appeared in three competitions in the 2024-25 season for Stanford, won two tournaments over the summer culminating in earning an automatic bid to the 125th U.S. Amateur Championship with a 3&1 win at the 123rd Met Amateur Championship in early August. Greyserman also took the top spot at the 70th Ike in July to kickstart MGA competitions.
FRESH FACES » A relatively young squad, Stanford welcomes two highly-touted recruits for the 2025-26 season in Edan Cui and Cooper Stearns. Cui enters his freshman season having been ranked No. 41 in the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings and was the seventh-highest player in the state of California following a win and four top-10 finishes on the AJGA circuit. Stearns comes to Stanford having been a multi-sport athlete at Irvine High School in golf and basketball. The 2025 Orange County Boys Athlete of the Year, Stearns was ranked No. 326 in the AJGA rankings and earned his lone junior win at the Los Angeles City Junior Championship.