OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – The No. 11-ranked Fighting Illini men’s golf team opens the 2025-26 season this weekend as the host team for the 19th annual OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club, Friday-Sunday.
THE SETTING
The OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational will be contested on the North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club, once again providing a demanding but fair test for a field that includes some of the nation’s best players and programs. The course will feature a Par 70, 7,353-yard layout.
Over the years, the famed club has been home to several premier events, having hosted the U.S. Amateur (2015), two U.S. Opens (1928, 2003), two PGA Championships (1925, 1961), a U.S. Senior Open (1997), plus five Western Opens (1920, 1927, 1933, 1968, 1971) and the BMW Championship in 2020 and 2023.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days with 18 holes slated for each day of competition. Tee times for Rounds 1 and 2 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, begin at 8 a.m. CT. Sunday’s final round tee times are set for 7:30 a.m. CT.
THE FIELD
The 2025 OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational field is made up of many of the nation’s most successful collegiate golf programs. Joining the ninth-ranked Illini are: No. 18 Alabama, No. 6 Arizona State, Baylor, No. 4 Florida, No. 9 Florida State, No. 13 Georgia Tech, Indiana, LMU, No. 1 Oklahoma State, Purdue, Stanford (RV), No. 3 Texas, No. 20 Texas A&M, and No. 15 Texas Tech.
- 11 of 15 teams in the field are ranked or receiving votes in the preseason Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll released by the GCAA on Aug. 29.
- Programs in the 2025 tournament field have combined for 19 of 32 spots in the NCAA Championship match play finals, and nine out of the 16 team titles, since the current format began in 2009
- 12 of 15 teams in the field competed in the 2025 NCAA Regionals
- 10 of the 15 teams in the field advanced to the 2025 NCAA Championship stroke play
- The field includes four of the final eight teams that made up match play at the 2025 NCAA Championship: quarterfinalists Arizona State and Texas, semifinalist Florida, and champion Oklahoma State
FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP
No. 1: Dane Huddleston
No. 2: Max Herendeen
No. 3: Ryan Voois
No. 4: Trey Marrion
No. 5: Ethan Wilson
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Individual: Jake Birdwell
Individual: Freddie Turnell
Individual: Dujuan Snyman
PRESEASON HONORS
Max Herendeen and Dane Huddleston each garnered preseason All-America honors leading up to the 2025-26 season. Herendeen, also selected to the preseason Haskins Award watch list, was tabbed as a first team honoree by Golf Channel and second team by Golfweek, while Huddleston was named to Golfweek’s third team. The duo also joined senior Ryan Voois on the Big Ten’s Preseason Honors list.
ILLINI AT THE OFCC/FIGHTING ILLINI INVITATIONAL
The Orange and Blue have taken home the team title at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational a record three times (2008, 2014 and 2016). Two Illini golfers have also captured medalist honors in the event, with Zach Barlow and Dylan Meyer each tying for top honors in 2008 and 2014, respectively.
Four of the five members of the Illini lineup, and one of the team’s three individual competitors, have previously played in the event, led by senior Ryan Voois and juniors Max Herendeen and Ethan Wilson, who will each tee off at Olympia Fields for the third time.
Voois missed the 2022 event as a true freshman due to injury, and tied for 60th in a rain-shortened, 36-hole event in 2023, before breaking out for a T6 (-3) with three consecutive rounds of 69 (-1) last season. Herendeen tied for 13th in his first action at OFCC as a member of the Illini lineup in 2023 and added another top-20 finish with a T17 performance in 2024. Wilson posted a T37 finish as an individual competitor in his collegiate debut in 2023 and finished T69 in the Orange and Blue lineup last season.
Sophomores Trey Marrion and Jake Birdwell will also compete in the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational for the second straight year. Marrion shot 5-over to finish T37 as a member of the Illinois lineup, while Birdwell finished T60 as an indy competitor in his collegiate debut last year.
Three competitors – junior Dane Huddleston, sophomore Freddie Turnell, and freshman Dujuan Snyman – will make their Illini debuts at this year’s event. Huddleston and Turnell joined the Illini this offseason as transfers from Utah Valley and Little Rock, respectively. Snyman is a true freshman making his collegiate debut.
MORE OFCC/FIGHTING ILLINI INVITATIONAL HISTORY
10 of the 15 teams competing have captured a team title in the previous 18 events. Aside from Illinois’ three team titles, defending champion Georgia Tech (2024 and 2019-co), Stanford (2011 and 2022), and Oklahoma State (2007 and 2018) have won multiple OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational championships. Other 2025 participants to have previously won the event are: Arizona State (2009), Florida (2010), Alabama (2013), Florida State (2015), Texas A&M (2017), and Baylor (2019-co).
Stanford has produced a tournament-record six medalist finishes from four golfers: Patrick Rodgers (2011 and 2012), Cameron Wilson (2013-co), Maverick McNealy (2014-co and 2015), and Michael Thorbjornsen (2022). Oklahoma State golfers have taken home four individual titles: Rickie Fowler (2007), Trent Whitekiller (2009-co), Peter Uihlein (2010) and Matthew Wolff (2018). Arizona State (Niklas Lemke, 2006; Jose Luis Ballester, 2024) and Alabama (Robby Shelton, 2013-co; Davis Riley, 2017) are tied with Illinois with two medalists, each. Other past medalists from programs participating in the 2025 event are: Indiana’s Alex Martin (2008-co), Texas A&M’s Cameron Champ (2016), Baylor’s Cooper Dossey (2019), and Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht (2023).
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring for the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational will be available on Golfstat.com. A Recap and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play.
UP NEXT
The Illini remain in the Illinois, making the short trip to Lake Forest, Illinois, to play in the Windon Memorial Classic, hosted by Northwestern at Knollwood Club, Sept. 29-30.
