URBANA — Illinois has applied multiple times to host an NCAA men’s golf regional.
That the Illini have held steady atop the college golf world for a decade-plus would have, at least in theory, put them near the top of the hosting candidates.
But there was always one, clear stumbling block. Stone Creek Golf Club never passed muster with the NCAA. It simply didn’t play difficult enough for that level.
Hence, no NCAA regional in Urbana.
The truth of the matter is neither Illinois golf program has played all that frequently at home. In fact, the high-profile Fighting Illini Invitational hosted by the men’s team every fall, which brings together a slew of the top teams in the country, is held at Olympia Fields Country Club in the south Chicago suburbs.
The rarity of a home tournament could change in the coming years, though. Illinois’ acquisition of Stone Creek Golf Club this week will create a permanent home for the Illini golf program. The next step? Turning what will soon be called Atkins Golf Club at the University of Illinois into a championship-caliber course capable of hosting major collegiate and amateur events.
First, though, there’s work that needs to happen in order to make Atkins Golf Club suitable for those events. Tee boxes to extend. Landing areas and fairways to narrow. Deeper rough to develop. Greens to firm up.
“We want to provide a great test for our team members because that helps prepare them for the championships,” Illinois women’s golf coach Renee Slone said. “This is an incredible opportunity for our programs. Excited about some of the enhancements we can make. Obviously, a lot has changed in the past 20 years in golf in the way the game is played.”
Illinois men’s golf coach Mike Small has some specifics in mind for the improvements necessary for Atkins Golf Club. Course length needs to be extended to approximately 7,500 yards, and bunkers need to be reworked. That, plus firmer, quicker greens and the steady winds that can rip through wide open southeast Urbana should do the trick.
“There’s not as many tournaments to go around for everybody to host an event,” Small said. “To have the ability to do it and decide how we want to do it would be huge. Then, if we get an NCAA regional, that changes everything because then people would want to come see the course more often anyway.”
While Atkins Golf Club will be revamped in the coming months to accommodate the competitive needs of the Illinois golf teams, it will remain a public course. Both Slone and Small understand a more difficult course also has to maintain its appeal for the more casual, recreational golfers.
“Maintaining that playability for the general public, too, is important,” Slone said.
“We don’t want to complicate it for the normal golfer, the normal public player,” Small added. “I think if we do it smart enough and narrowing the fairways where amateurs would be hitting it and not so much for the public player, then I think this would still be an enjoyable, fun golf course for the public.”
A permanent golf course home for Illinois had been considered for several years. That included the idea of building a new course to suit the program’s needs. Land was surveyed. Designers and builders were consulted. Then Small turned his attention to what he thought was a more pressing need in a practice facility.
Now, Illinois will be able to pair its Demirjian indoor and Lauritsen/Wohlers outdoor practice facilities — among the best in the nation — with a soon-to-be-renovated golf course home.
“Obviously, we do a lot of training and practice at our facility,” Slone said. “To actually get out on the golf course and do situational practice, a lot of times that can only be emulated on a golf course.”
Getting away from Demirjian and Lauritsen/Wohlers a little more is something Small is actually looking forward to for his team. As it turns out, there’s a downside to having a state-of-the-art practice facility accessible 24/7.
“Right now if you’d ask me, one of the disadvantages to having such a great facility like that on campus is our guys practice too much,” Small said. “They do. They practice too much. They get too much wrapped up into their technique, and they become practicers and not players. I think as a program, as a coach, we’re learning how to mix and match a great practice facility still with the ability to go out and compete and play and shoot a score.”
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